Ghost Soldier
by Comrade IS-2
Summary: Assassin, spectre, Myth. No one knows where he came from. All they know is that you better hope to never meet him on bad terms
1. Sword

**Third times the charm? Hopefully.**

**X**

It had been a quiet night for junior so far, so when he saw a cigar chomping teen walk in he knew it was all downhill from there. The boy walked through the front door calmly enough. He looked around his establishment before settling his eyes on the very bar Junior stood at. The boy gave a two finger salute and made his way over. He leaned over the counter and stared at junior with a neutral expression. Junior stared back before sighing, putting the glass he was drinking down he pointed at a tucked away room on the second floor. "He's in the same place he's always is." The boy reached into his pocket and took out something, then he placed it in the counter and walked away. Junior looked down at the lien just laying there. "S," The boy stopped, "What's the money for?"

S turned his head, "There's a blonde liability on its way, I'm just giving you some money to repair the club." With that he walked to and up the stairs. Blonde liability, whatever did he mean? He turned his head towards the entrance just in time to catch a girl with gold colored hair walk in.

"What a coincidence."

X

An old man sat in a dimly lit room, waiting for the door to open. He listened to the classics while smoking his cigar, occasionally singing along and thanking God for Junior's soundproof back room. The quiet didn't last forever though, as the door opened and the sounds of the club flooded the room. S had entered. The boy closed the door and sat in an armchair directly across from the old man. The older of the two smiled, S had neglected to light his cigar. "S."

"Old Man."

"May I?"

"Certainly." The old man pulled out a lighter and held it to S's cigar. The boy twirled it and puffed, lighting it all around. After a few minutes the cigar was lit and they both smoked while listening to the soft music. The old man broke the quiet first.

"What are you smoking my boy?" S took the stogie out of his mouth, blew out the smoke, and inspected it in his hands.

"Davidoff Nicaragua Toro Box Press."

"Ah, how did you cut it?"

"Punch cut."

The old man smiled, "I've turned you into quite cigar connoisseur, haven't I?" That elicited a chuckle out of S. He took another huff of his cigar and smiled, "Pretty soon you'll be lighting my cigars."

"And let you do the jobs? Didn't know you have a deathwish." Old Man shook his head.

"Who said anything about me doing jobs? Speaking of, you'd like yours wouldn't you?" The boy merely nodded. Old Man dug a folder out of a nearby satchel and handed it to S. "As per usual all of the info is in there. I'll give you a quick rundown. There are some White Fang hold up west of the city, our employer wants them eliminated. This, however, is the secondary objective. The aim of this job is to snatch something they have. This is the object." Old Man showed S a picture of a very ornate sword. "Our employer wants to add this to his collection, and is willing to break bank for it."

"Any idea why he's lusting after it so bad?"

"Not a clue, but 25 million lien is enough to keep me from inquiring."

"25 what now?" Old Man looked at the amazement on S's face.

"25 million, all ours for killing a ragtag group of terrorist and taking their sword. Easy enough for you." Old Man saw the suspicion on the boy's face

"It seems too easy even, what if it is a trap?"

"We've taken jobs from him before, I trust him. But he is paying a lot, odds are other people want that metal stick too. Watch your back S." S nodded and stood, but before he could leave Old Man grabbed him. "This is the last job you'll get from me for awhile. I got some heat, so I'm laying low for now." S looked sad, but nodded reguardless. With one last puff of his cigar he walked over and opened the door to leave. Old Man took his cigar into his hands and looked at it, looking for something to comfort him. Had he been right to arrange the meeting for the boy without his consent? Was he in the wrong?

"Old Man, you might want to see this."

X

Yang had just delivered the beat down of a lifetime to junior and his thugs. She had trashed the club, which was regrettable, but felt better about the lack of leads she had on her own mother. Looking around for anyone else to question, she spied the most peculiar pair up on the second floor. A old man wearing a suit and a figure draped in a black cloak and hood. She was too far away to make out any disconcerable features, but they were talking. The older man nodded and walked out of her view, leaving only the cloaked figure. He walked down the staircase towards her and the bar. As it got closer she made out a cigar hanging out of the hood. It stopped near Junior and looked down at him laying on the ground. "A girl? All this damage was done by a single girl? Perhaps you need better men." It reaches up and pulled the cigar from its place in the hood and placed it on the man's chest. "Here, have a smoke break. Now, girl." It looked at her. Even being a few feet away from it she couldn't see his face. It was like his hood casted an impenetrable shadow that not even a flood light could break it. The only thing she could tell for sure was that he was tall, maybe 6'2. Oh, it was undeniably a man. Even if she couldn't see his face, his voice gave it away. She might even consider his voice kind of hot. "Now, I advise that you leave before I introduce your hair to the business end of a pair of shears." Never mind, she was going to kick his ass.

"Oh come on, can't we talk," she was going to try the same trick she tried on Junior. She got within arms reach and reached down. "You can call me..." she didn't even finish her sentence before his hands shot down, knocked hers away from his groin, and delivered a sledgehammer of a punch to her stomach. Before she knew it she was on her back 10 feet away.

"The only thing I'll be calling you is girl. Leave." He raised his hands, revealing two bulky wrist covers. A long sword like blade popped out of each cover with a loud "shink." Yang, never one to back away from a challenge, got up and raised her fists. With a fierce cry she charged the man. She went for a sucker punch with her right, which was blocked. She smirked and readied her left for a counter punch. The man, however, had different plans. He grabbed ahold of her face and used his leg to sweep hers. With enough force to crack concrete, she was slammed into the ground. He then proceeded to jump on top of her and deliver successive punches to her face. She tried to defend herself, but he had planted his knees on her arms, and was a lot heavier than he looked. Her legs had also been immobilized, stuck under his cloak. She tried to use her semblance, but he only responded with harder punches. He stopped after awhile and stood. She couldn't really see much through the blood and pain. He reached down and grabbed her neck. She was inbetween consciousnesses and unconsciousness, but she knew she had been dragged outside. He threw her down the steps. She landed next to her bike. "Is this yours?"

"Urg, yes." Yang tried to sound strong, but her words came out quietly between pants.

"It's very nice, it would be a shame if..." He knocked it over and scratched it with his blades. "Something happened to it." He stomped on the side, putting a rather large dent in it. Any other day she would have got up and wrung his neck for doing that to Bumblebee, but not being able to feel her face and having to constantly spit out blood made her quiet apathetic to that whole situation. He bent down and picked her up by her hair as to make her eye level to him. "If you ever mess with any of my associates again, you'll have more than just a few bruises and a bloody mouth."

"Yang!" Was that...Ruby? Yang tried to look left, but he held her firmly in place. He noticed, and moved her head to look.

"Well, looks I'll be leaving you in good hands. Remember me next time you trash someplace." With that he dropped her head and disappeared in a cloud of black. Ruby ran up and kneeled by her side.

"Oh my God! Are you ok?"

X

Ozpin walked through the destroyed camp with his co-worker Glynda. They passed by countless bodies. Some were decapitaded, others bisected, and all disected to some degree. While this left his partner more than disgusted, he had steeled himself. The old man had warned that this would be the condition of the camp when the boy was on a mission. While Glynda was sceptical of what a single boy could do(until she had seen his work), Ozpin believed and took the nessecary precautions to not lose his lunch. He admitted that those precautions were merely him not eating lunch, but if it worked why mess with it? All the bodies were leading to a large tent, the one covered in blood and body parts. The unfortunate defenders here faired no different then the ones twenty feet ago. If anything, they got it worse. Ozpin noted with morbid entertainment how two had been impaled by one rifle. Others had had their weapons shoved down their throats. Some held their own end trails. A rare few had their eyes gouged out and fed to them. As Ozpin stepped closer to the tents entrance, he noticed the river of blood flooding from the tent. Steeping inside he saw a figure cloaked in a perfect black cloak, devoid of stains, and member of the white fang kneeling in front of him begging for his life. The boy in black held a sword, a very ornate sword. He brought it back, but Ozpin stopped him before he could stab the poor man.

"Isn't that sword worth a fortune? Would dirtying it not lower the price?" The boy stopped, considered Ozpin, and then drove the sword forward anyway. The sword exploded into black fire that absorbed the poor man and climbed the boy's arm. S screamed in agony and grabbed his arm, falling to his knees. Ozpin and Glynda had been knocked back by the swords sudden explosion, and when they tried to help the boy they were pushed away by an invisible force. They watched in horror as the boy screamed in agony and the man was consumed by the fire. Ozpin tried to yell over the roar of the fire and the anguish of the boy, but failed. Forced to cover his ears or go deaf, Ozpin curled up into a ball and covered himself. He spied Glynda doing the same thing, only with her eyes closed and her face conveying fear. There was a loud crack, like that of thunder, and then silence. Ozpin looked over at where the boy was. He was standing there staring at the sword like nothing had happened a few seconds ago. Said sword was encased in black flame. The same fire also encased him. All that was left of the unfortunate man was a pile of ash. Ozpin stood very slowly. Glynda was out of commission, so he needed to tread lightly. The boy, who was full of surprises, spoke first.

"Who are you?"

"I...am Ozpin. Who are you?"

"You know who I am, why shouldn't I kill you like everyone else here?" Straight to the point, huh? Ozpin could work with that.

"I heard of your little employment problem."

"Ah, so you wish to hire me?"

"You could say that."

"Well, you've caught me at a bad time, but I'm interested. How about we have a talk over a meal. We could discuss this job you have for me in greater detail at a much cleaner place."

"When would you wish to see me?"

"Next week on Monday. I know a little place. I have but one rule."

"And what is that?"

"You can't bring her."

X

Ozpin arrived at the restaurant at 8 PM. Right on the dot for his meeting with S. Walking into the establishment he came face to face with a waitress. "Do you have reservations, Sir?"

"Yes, they should be under S."

"Ah yes, right this way Sir." He was led deeper into the restaurant. It was very homey. The floors were dark brown wood shined into a reflective surface. The light the chandeliers used were candles, which casted flickering shadows across the walls. It was very warm inside, but not too hot that wearing a suit was uncomfortable. Everyone was talking quietly inbetween puffs from cigars and bites of food. The food itself smelled good. Every possible food he thought of, he smelled, ranging from popcorn to crème brûlée. After a few seconds of walking they made it to S's booth. There was a boy sitting there. Pale in complexion. He had thin glasses and brown hair. He wore a black suit and tie. This...was not S. Where was the blood and guts? He seemed to catch onto this.

"Thank you Miss. Ozpin sit, we have much to talk about." The waitress left. The boy had greeted him with a tone one would use to greet an old friend. Ozpin sat. "Did you expect me to wear my cloak here? I may be good at my job, but I don't take work home. Surely you understand. Now, take a look at your menu, we've much to discuss and you can't discuss well on an empty stomach." S picked up his menu and scanned through it. Ozpin did the same. It was silent until the server came back for their orders.

"Are you two ready?" S went first.

"Yes, I would like the Atlesian Venison. Thank you." She nodded and looked at Ozpin

"And you Sir?"

"May I have the Baklava?"

"Certainly Sir, will that be for you two?"

"Yes."

"Yes." She left the two again. S looked at Ozpin with a cheeky grin

"Your a desert before dinner man?"

Ozpin cracked a smile, "I admit, I have a sweet tooth." S leaned back in his seat, Ozpin replicated the action.

S's face suddenly went from a smile to sour, "Now, before we get into our meals, give me a small insight into how you found out about my sudden unemployment and how you knew where I would be." Ozpin was slightly taken aback by the abrupt change in disposition, but kept his cool.

"An Old Man told me." S shook kid head and looked down.

"Ah, so I suppose the heat he had was also fake."

"No, that was real. I told him that I would wave off some of his notoriety in exchange for a meeting with you."

S looked up in curiosity, "Why? What could the Headmaster of Beacon use the services of a humble mercenary for?"

"Ah, well, I cannot really divulge that info currently. What I can tell you is that the payout is good."

"Is that so?" Ozpin nodded, "Well, perhaps we could talk about it in more depth after we eat?"

"Yes, as you said earlier, we've much to discuss."

"So I did, but before that you need my name. I am Rex

X

Weiss sat at the meeting point, waiting for the mercenary. Her father had hired him to retrieve a trinket for him. Although she believed he was paying much more than needed for a sword, Weiss had no real reason to question her father. He gave her bodyguards and an armored car, so at least she was protected. She couldn't help but wonder what was so important about this sword. Before she could get to in depth in her thoughts, a black cloaked man carrying a briefcase showed up. Her bodyguard stood to meet him, but he was undeterred. Walking up to them to and staring down at her. "I suppose you're the mercenary?"

"You'd be correct." Weiss told her guards to back down. "I have the object, do you have the payment?"

Weiss picked up a silver briefcase with the SDC logo(Schnee Dust Company. I will be using that abbreviation because the regular name is just too damn long.) on it.

"12.5 million in cash"

"The agreed amount was 25 million."

"Half is being sent to your associate after I get the sword."

"Show me proof that your not lying." Weiss pulled out a scroll and brought up a tab to show to the merc. After he looked at it he lifted his case and opened it. There was the sword, laying inside of a red velvet case. "Send the payment to my associate now." Weiss did as told, and the merc handed the case over. She then gave him his and he disappeared in a cloud if black. She wouldn't really mind working with that merc again.

**X**

**Well, that's chapter 1 done. Though I guess that was more of a prologue, since it was really short. From here on out I will try to make longer chapters. Well I hope you have a good rest of whatever day your reading this. Don't die!**


	2. Launch

The only thing Rex could think about was that the airship was a bit unnecessary. He understood that first impressions made or broke the young hunters loyalty, but this was overkill in conjunction with Beacon itself. He had already seen the prestigious academy when Ozpin had recruited him. He, with the Headmaster's grace, had explored, mapped, and memorized every nook and cranny of the large fortress. He had even seen the pitiful state of the fall maiden. That brought him to his actual job here. He was to defend the school by any means necessary, while taking on the occasional extra task from the teachers. They all knew of his employment. In a way that made his job easier, as he could be frank with them. Within the school day he was to be and act as a student, when the school day ends he was expected to attend teacher meetings. For the simple man the daunting task of balancing school life and work with being a mercenary and teacher would be too much, but he was no simple man. Speaking of mercenary, that leads to his pay. While it was not what Rex had expected, Ozpin's words were true about it paying good. He would get free combat training and schooling(which was unnecessary) and tutoring with any new powers his strange semblance would turn up. When he asked Ozpin what he would get if he didn't need help with his semblance, as he had already unlocked its secrets, the headmaster merely shook his head and refused to discuss the subject further. Actually, this might've not been a worthwhile deal for Rex...Well, he did get an excellent excuse to beat people up for four years. Scratch that, it was a great idea. Rex looked down at himself. He had placed his cloak in the room he and his team would stay in, so he just had his undersuit and glasses. He wore a gray jumpsuit fitted with extra Kevlar and pockets, making him look more like a soldier then a student. Though, when he looked around, he wouldn't look that out of place with all the hunters. He may be colorless, but that in itself was unique. Uniqueness was what the hunters coveted after all. Although his lack of cloak made him feel a bit naked, it showed off his wrist blades and a new scabbard strapped to his side. He didn't know why he had felt the need to carry an empty sheath, but it was like something was screaming at him to do it. Perhaps his brain thought it would be useful when he found a sword, because they're such a common weapon used by the Grimm and criminals of Remnant. The more probable answer was that he was just losing his mind. Regardless, he had a sheath. Come to think about it, where did he get it? He was certain he didn't buy it. He also didn't remember getting it from a job, payment or looting. It was just kind of there this morning.

"Hey." Rex closed his eyes and turned inwards. He was hearing voices now? "Hey." There it was again. What is going on? First a magically appearing scabbard, now voices? "Hey!" His eyes shot open and his head snapped to the left and towards the voice. It was a girl. Long brown hair that fell to her shoulders, blue eyes, about as pale as him with a small amount of tan. She wore something similar to his own "uniform" as he called it, but much more colorful. Stripes of red and white ran through it with a gold base and purple accents. What should have been a mess of colors actually blended into something very nice. Her voice was reminded him of the blonde in junior's club a few weeks ago.

"Hello, May I help you?" Rex adjusted his glasses.

"Actually, I was going to see if I could help you. It looked like you were losing your mind over here."

"Oh. I thank you, but I'm fine." She didn't look convinced.

"You sure? Cause I just saw that same look on a kid who threw up."

"The yellow haired one? He ran through here a minute ago." She leaned on the wall next to him.

"Yeah, I came to make sure he got to the trash." She stared at him.

"If you came here to find him, aren't you going to go find him?" She crossed her arms and grinned.

"Nope, I just found something way more interesting then a airsick guy."

"Whatever is that?" She found that funny.

"Guy, you came here to be a hunter, what's with the refined speech?" Rex took out a small piece of cloth from one of his pockets and took off his glasses to clean them. He stared into the lenses as he did.

"When the bullets start to fly, no one will talk like a civil man, I'd like to save the crass language for a firefight. It will be more meaningful if I do. As cliche as it sounds, it's my philosophy." The girl thought for a second, long enough for Rex to get his glasses on.

"That's what my friend used to say." Rex gave a small chuckle at the suddenly thoughtful girl.

"Is that so? He must've been smart." She smiled

"That's what he said, but I didn't believe him." She was silent for awhile. "Fae"

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"My name, I'm Fae. What's your name?" Rex gave it a thought, perhaps a old nickname would suffice.

"You can call me Hev." This caught Fae off guard.

"That was what my friend was called. Are you impersonating him or something?" Rex was surprised, just who was this guy. He would like to meet him. They sounded like carbon copies. Fae stared at him for a bit. He stared back. Eventually she shook her head. "Well never mind that. What's your plan for the school year?"

"Do well I'm all my subjects."

"Oh come on, you gotta have some other goal. Conquer the world, sleep with every huntress, rob banks, anything?" Rex shook his head and smiled.

"No, I'm not that ambitious. Though if you want to do any of the above, I'd gladly help." She seemed to look suspiciously at him. Were her cheeks a little red? "Wait, I didn't mean it like that." The airship seemed to come to a stop.

"Heh, you just got saved by the bell." She went to leave.

"Surely your not tired of my company already."

"Nope, I just gotta go find where we're going. Peace." With a peace sign she walked away. Another mystery to add to the day. A magically appearing scabbard and now a girl with a friend that sounded exactly like him. Rex crossed his hands behind his back and walked out of the airship. He took his time, looking over everyone there. There was a rainbow of colors and armor types. From black, to neon. From no armor, to juggernauts. He actually took quite the middle ground. The crowd was abuzz with talk of the beautiful building and so close together that he nearly missed a certain red girl fall into a pile of very familiar luggage. The Schnee heiress caught sight of the red one before he reached them. With what he could only believe to be a large gap in judgment she shuck the vial of volatile dust into reds face. Not a second later a explosion occurred, then another tirade from the Schnee. The girl in red seemed to have enough.

"I said I'm sorry princess!" This is when Rex would have stepped in, but chose to watch as a girl in black entered the scene.

"It's heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." Weiss seemed to like this

"Finally some recognition." She was quick to rub that into reds face, but the girl in black wasn't done.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." While Rex flinched at this statement, Weiss did more than just flinch

"Wha-...how dare...the...nerve of..." Weiss snatched the vial black had picked up before she stormed off. Red seemed to regret her actions. What there was to regret Rex had no idea, but that didn't stop her from apologizing.

"I promise I'll make it up to you!" She said something else, but he couldn't make it out. She then turned to the girl in black to strike up a conversation, but she had already walked away. Defeated, Red fell to the ground. With the words, "Welcome to Beacon," she closed her eyes. Rex took this as his queue. He walked over and stood in the sun, covering her face with shade. She noticed this and looked up at him. He extended his hand towards her.

"Not like you imagined your first day?" Red got up and hung her head.

"No, but I guess that's how it goes. I'm Ruby." Ruby looked up at Rex. Once again he had to decide if he should use his real name or his nickname. He decided that have some call him Rex and others call him Hev might get annoying, so he would keep a uniform name.

"You can call me Hev."

"Hev? What does that stand for?"

"It's a nickname."

"Oh." He could tell she wanted to talk to him, but was at a loss for conversation topics.

"Well, we should go to the auditorium. You may follow me." Rex started to walk, was Ruby was far more interested in something else

"So, I have this." Rex heard a sound akin to metal slideing againts metal, then a loud crunch. He turned around to see a large scythe had implanted a bit of itself into the concrete of the pathway.

"Quite the tool you have there."

"Yep, it's a customizable, high impact sniper rifle." Rex looked at the rather large weapon, made even bigger next to the short girl. It shared the same color scheme as Ruby herself, and looked rather sharp.

"What caliber is it?"

Ruby smiled, ".50 BMG"

Rex smiled back, "Child's play." Ruby looked confused, until he pulled out the bullet. He moved his right gauntlet up to his face. "This is a true weapon," he popped the blade out. "On both arms I have a 11 inch sword, but the right gauntlet is special." He gave his arm a flick. A small barrel came out. "This bullet is a 14.5mm, this barrel is chambered for it. It also doubles as a tazer and what I like to call a a "Charge Thrower." It fires a bolt of pure electricity, which only needs to be cooled instead of reloaded. Charge is built by using my blades and other functions, giving me an almost infinite source of ammo during combat." Ruby was practically drooling over his arm.

"Ohmygoddidyoumakeitwhatisitmadeof?" She was so excited her words became merged. He could barely understand her.

"Calm down, there is no need to yell. You may see it." If she was ecstatic before, there was no words to describe her now.

"Reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally?" Rex found it endearing, the way she jumped up and down in excitement.

"Yes, as soon as we get our dorms." That put a slight damper on her spirit, but she was still extremely excited. Rex smiled, "You have quite the childish side. Don't you feel much better compared to earlier. Bask in this moment Ruby, welcome to Beacon." He walked by her and toward the auditorium.

"Hev?"

"Yes?"

"Can I follow you? I don't know the way." She wore a sheepish grin. He liked this girl, he could get used to her antics.

"Certainly Ruby."

X

They arrived after a few minutes of walking, which would have seemed like forever to a simple man with Ruby's constant questions about his gauntlets, but as he had said, he was no simple man. Though halfway through the walk he told her he had no name for his weapons, and so it turned into her grilling him about how naming a weapon was important. This got a tad bit annoying. Personally he saw no extra aid that came with bestowing your tools with names, but to each his own. Regardless of there conversation, or rather her conversation, she left him and took a place by someone Rex recognized but had forgotten her relevance. He, instead, made his way to the back of the room. Ozpin told him to meet him near the back door after the assembly. Rex positioned himself near the door and waited for Ozpin to start and finish his speech. He crossed his hands behind his back and stood at attention. Rex watched his employer with critical eyes, looking for any sign of weakness or hesitation. He couldn't find any sign throughout the brief talk, and so he withdrew his gaze as the headmaster walked towards him.

"You'll find no weakness in me Rex. There are some things we need to discuss, follow me." Although he expected Ozpin to see his scrutiny, it was still a surprise to be called out. Instead of speaking Rex just followed the Headmaster, slotting in behind him and infront of Glynda. They walked on through the school for awhile before Ozpin broke the silence. "There is one thing you've neglected to tell me Rex."

"What is that Headmaster?"

"Your last name." Oh, that. Rex hung his head in shame.

"I have no last name Headmaster." Ozpin looked over his shoulder at Rex, then hummed and looked forward. They soon found themselves in Ozpin's office. Rex looked at both Glynda and Ozpin with a slightly inquisitive look. "What can I do on my first day Headmaster?" Ozpin leaned back in his chair.

"You need a last name, I believe I have found a solution. From today on you will be Rex Goodwitch." Had he heard that right? Wasn't that Glynda's name? Rex glanced at his new mother(apparently) only to find her in a similar state of shock. She slowly turned her head towards Ozpin

"Could you repeat that Ozpin, I seemed to have hallucinated. Did you just say that he would share my name?"

"Indeed I did." Rex had seen floods, he'd witnessed the devastation left in the wake of artillery, he'd even seen the aftermath of of devastating earthquakes, but this was unlike anything he'd ever seen. She first removed her glasses, then let lose the floodgate of rage.

"Absolutely not! I will not associate with this monster, let alone pretend to be related to it!..." she continued to scream words for awhile, most foul and directed at Rex. Rex and Ozpin decided that the best course of action would be to sweat it out. By the time she finished, she was too winded to speak. Ozpin took this as a great time to give his reason. "I understand your reservations about this, but hear me out. Rex is a honorary teacher, but only the staff knows this. To see just any student entering and leaving staff rooms would be suspicious, but if he were your son no one would bat an eye. Also regarding his combat prowess, would it not be easier to expain it with your "homeschooling"? I ask that you aid us in this."

Glynda wasn't having it, "I don't see why it needs to be my son, why not yours?"

"I'll raise your pay by 11% if you help me."

"Oh your bribing me now?"

"And 20 days of extra vacation." Rex looked over at Glynda. He had expected her to scoff at this, but it was quite the opposite. She had her eyes squinted and was staring at the Headmaster.

"Make it 25."

"23."

"Done." Glynda looked over at Rex with slight disgust. She had some trouble, but eventually, "Hello...son." Rex looked over at Ozpin.

"Do I need to show her any girlfriend I get?" Ozpin smiled, Glynda regretted her life choices. "Oh, no offense, but you may want to work on the mother thing if we want this to work. Other than that it's a honor to work with you mother." Glynda sighed in defeat before speaking.

"We still have one more thing for you." She handed him a black cloth roll from Ozpin's desk. Rex unfolded it, revealing a fimilar piece of clothing.

"My cloak?" Ozpin took the liberty of explaining.

"Tomorrow it will rain, hard. You wouldn't of got the chance to fetch it from your room. I had Glynda grab it, think of it as your first gift from your mother." Rex and Ozpin shared a chuckle. Glynda wore a look that screamed 'I'm going to gut you both'.

"Well, you are dismissed. Go make some friends and get some sleep."

Rex nodded, "I will, thank you. And Glynda I'm sorry...". Rex turned and walked to the elevator.

"Don't."

"...Mother." With that he pushed the button and the elevator descended.

"I swear, I'm going to kill both of you by the end of this year."

"I don't know, you might enjoy being his mother. At least he won't be a boring son."

"That's what I'm worried about."

X

Everyone was setting up their little sleeping areas when Rex entered. Many of the boys were showing off their bodies, many of the girls were staring, so he slipped inside the room undetected. "Hey Hev!" Rex spied Fae, calling out to him from her bag on the ground. "You can set up here if you haven't already." With a smile Rex walked over a rolled out his bag. "Where've you been?"

"I was having a conversation with the Headmaster. We needed to sort out one thing."

"Huh. What's your name?" Rex gave a small smile

"I already told you. I am Hev."

"No, you said that I could call you Hev. You never told me your name." She looked serious, like this meant a lot to her.

"Patience, you will know tomorrow." While This seemed to partly sate her curiosity, she seemed to have another question.

"So you'll tell me tomorrow."

"No, tomorrow is when teams are formed. They'll say my name when I get on a team." With all of her questions answered, she rolled over in her sleeping bag. Rex took this time to set up and change his clothes. He then crawled into his sleeping bag and settled into the quiet.

"Hev?"

"Yes?"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight Fae."

X

It was rainy the next day. The students taking the "exam" as Ozpin called it were standing over the forest. Now when Rex said it was rainy, he was under exaggerating it. He meant it was like a god damn typhoon. The wind was cold and the rain was freezing. Almost the entire forest had turned into a mud bowl. Rex had been through worse, but some the hunters looked like they were catching hypothermia. Especially the blonde boy. He had chosen to wear blue jeans, which were now soaked through. Another blonde girl kept looking over at Rex, well, mainly at his cloak. Perhaps she was envious of his warm clothing. She looked scared of him, maybe she was scared of the cold weather. Rex heard giggling to his left. When he looked over he almost couldn't hold in his laughter. Ozpin had come wearing a see through poncho. Even his coffe cup had a small covering. Glynda, seemingly in a moment of extreme intelligence, had chosen a rain coat instead of the Headmasters outfit. The odd pair stood infront of the entire group.

Ozpin started, "For years you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the emerald forest." With that, Glynda took the stage.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be getting your teammates...today." From where he was, Rex could hear Ruby slightly whimper. He's sure the yellow haired boy would've too. The only reason he hadn't was that the bad weather had already beaten him down.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Another whimper from Ruby. And now the yellow haired girl looked over at him with dread. Was she really that cold? "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ruby didn't like that.

"What?" Some grumbling and talking stared going up and down the line. The cold momentarily forgotten, the students discussed this new point of dread.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet oposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." A nervous chuckle from the yellow haired boy was heard. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah, Sir?" Ozpin looked like he didn't even see the poor boy.

"Good. Now, take your positions." Though Rex pitted the boy, but he couldn't think about it now. Looking down the line he saw people shivering with equal parts cold and excitement. Except for two people, the aforementioned yellow haired boy and Fae. Fae looked lost in thought. She stood rigidly and not at all ready for the sudden launch that awaited her. She was about three people away from the front, meaning that if she didn't get ready quick she would have a tough landing. He weighed his options. He could get her attention, or try to, find out she knew, and look like an idiot. Well, at least he might save her some pain.

"Fae!" This tore her out of whatever thought she had.

"What?" She seemed a bit annoyed.

"I'll see you down there, yeah?"

"...Yeah." She sounded unsure. He hoped she knew how to land. It wouldn't be fun for her if he had to drag her out of a mud puddle. Rex turned his attention back to the Yellow haired boy just as people started launching. He was still attempting to ask Ozpin question.

"Uh, Sir? I got, um... a question. So this landing...strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're like, dropping us off or something?"

"No, you will be falling."

"Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy."

"Uh-huh... Yeah. So what exactly is a landing strat..." He didn't have a chance to finish before he was launched high into the sky. There was a pang of guilt that ran through Rex, but it was quickly overridden by amusement.

"Man, ice cold Headmaster." He let out a small chuckle. Ozpin smiled at him. Rex gave a small salute and looked over at Glynda. "Oh, I love you mom." Glynda scowled at him and angrily tapped her tablet. Soon enough Rex joined the rest of the hunters in flight.

X

Rex always had a little luck on his side during his life, whether it be him fighting the enemy or doing labor. Rex, however, had two expectations to this: cards(which is why he wasn't a gambler) and landing in a favorable Position. Granted, his ability to distinguish favorable and unfavorable positions was hindered in the storm, but landing in a sea of mud is pretty unfavorable in his book. Sliding to a halt knee deep and in the middle of a puddle was only the start of his problems. He quickly sunk to his thighs. With quite a large amount of effort he pulled himself free. The storm must've sensed his victory however, as it suddenly worsened and limited visibility by a considerable margin. Soon he found himself drenched. He could see through the storm however. He always had the ability to see in dark or otherwise low light places. Old Man always said it had to do with his semblance. Rex shook the man away from his head. He shouldn't think about someone who essentially betrayed his trust. He thought back to the severity of the storm. Not many things could see through this typhoon, Grimm were unfortunately one of them. Grimm, however, can't distinguish colors well. Rex was already covered in mud. The forest was a mud bowl. Rex got closer to the ground and moved into the woods. He would act as a ghost.

X

Fae currently sat under a tree looking out into a open bit of the forest. She was dry, she had the underbrush to thank for that, but the open ground was a mess. That was one of the reasons she was sitting there, the second was a group of four beowolfs across in the other tree line. The were looking for something. The strangest part was that they were looking into the sea of mud. She saw nothing in it, but if they were distracted it would be easier for her to scoot past unseen. She got up to walk, but snapped a twig. Swearing she turned back to the group of beowolfs. They heard her, and started towards her position. The lead monster stopped, however, and looked down. It suddenly yelped and was pulled down into the mud. It struggled for a second before it went limp. The other Grimm had lost interest in her, now only looking at their dead compatriot. The body started to decompose into the dirt. The Grimm looked confused. They were clueless, and so was she. Another Grimm walked forward, only to get impaled by a blade. Some cloaked in black stood. The last Grimm howled in rage and attacked, but it was in vein. The cloaked thing surged forward. After a few seconds the monsters were both decapitated. She was about to call out to the person when it turned. It looked right into her eyes. She suddenly wanted to leave, to go hide away. It started to jog towards her. When it got to the tree line she had raised her weapon slightly. It stepped out of the rain and started at her eyes.

"We're partners." It took of its hood. Fae should've know who it was.

"Hev."

"Fae."

X

**Well. Two down. I believe I'll have a much better time making this story. So far I've had fun with it. I'll try to maintain a regular schedule as best as possible. I have some other news as well. I've been making another story about warhammer 40k. If that's something you guys would like to see then tell me and I'll put extra effort into making it. I'll eventually put it out anyway, but if you want I can finish the first chapter and bring it to you faster. If you don't want that and just want Ghost Soldiers chapters I will put it off. As always any criticism is appreciated. Have a nice day. Don't die!**


	3. Colonel

Fae and Hev walked on in silence. She was unhappy. The first thing her "partner" told her was a lie in the form of a nickname. Not a great start to a fruitful relationship when it came down to it. She would glance behind herself at him every few minutes, expecting him to be scowling at her. Every time he was just wearing a neutral expression. His glasses were gone, most likely filed away in one of his pouches. "Fae. Do you know where we are going?" His usual speak was changed in favor of a rough and straightforward tone.

"Yeah, towards the object." She said, annoyed.

"I'm sorry, do we have a problem?" Now he was annoyed. She whipped around and pinned him to a tree. She placed her forearm on his neck.

"My problem is that I don't know or trust you! You won't even tell me your name!" He narrowed his eyes. Before she could even continue speaking he grabbed her by the back of the head, moved the arm that pinned him, and head butted her into next week. She fell onto her back in the mud grabbing at her head. She was disoriented and dizzy. She flipped onto her stomach and tried to get up. After failing twice she decided that laying down was better. Hev had a different opinion. She was grabbed by the back of her neck. Rex brought his mouth to her ear.

"I don't know about you, but where I come from assault is illegal. From now on you respect me, I respect you. If you violate this agreement, next time it won't be a head butt." With that he dropped her back into the mud. "Now get up. This rain isn't going to stop anytime soon and we have to hump another mile to the temple." She looked up as he walked away through the rain. Tears formed in her eyes.

Over the rain she whispered, "I found you." After she ran after him after digging herself out of the mud.

X

Rex stepped out into the temple clearing. The first thing he spotted was the blonde girl from the cliff. Much to her distaste, she also spotted him. With a step back she yelled, "You!" Rex, however, walked past her as he did not remember her in the slightest. Looking over the chess pieces, he choose the yellow queen.

"Fae!" She appered by his side. He handed her another queen and turned toward the blonde. "Do I know you?"

She took another step back, "We... fought... at the club." With each word she got smaller and her voice became meeker.

"Don't remember, must've not been important." She looked stunned, he still didn't know why.

"All I'm saying is that we could killed more."

"And all I'm saying is that I won the competition!"

"You made me leave before I could beat your count!"

"No you just suck!" There was a commotion in the bushes behind the blonde. Suddenly two very similar teen tumbled out of the bushes fighting. They were both gingers and had green eyes. Their clothes were also very similar. The only difference was the color, as the boy wore a blue hoodie and the girl wore a red one. Matter of fact, they were the same size too. They rolled over on the wet ground to Rex's feet. He tried waiting for them to shut up, but his reserve of patience was only so large.

"Quiet!" The twins became confused, until they looked up at Rex's annoyed face.

"She did it!"

"He did it!" The both shouted at the same time. Rex narrowed his eyes at the two.

"On your feet." They both stood and faced him.

"Sorry about him. I'm Luka Lexic."

"Your sorry about me? Siblings can be so obnoxious sometimes am I right? I'm Yossif Lexic." Yossif stuck out his hand to shake Rex up. His sister swatted it away.

"Excuse me? Your the obnoxious one. He should shake my hand!" Luka stick out her hand. Yossif took offense to this.

"No one likes you, people only talk to you so they can talk to me!"

"Shut up Ursa MINOR."

"SERVANT Taijitu"

"Enough!" Rex yelled, finally all out of patience. The twins immediately turned to face him. "You're twins?" They nodded. "Are you partners?" Another nod. "Fae! Get these two queens. You guys are with us. Now if you two get anywhere near each other's throats again during the rest of this mission I'll personally feed you to Beowolves. Copy?" The twins nodded and started cleaning off the mud from each other.

"Heads upppp!" Rex looked up only to see the yellow haired boy crash into Ruby. They landed in a tree, much to the twins amusement. He could hear mumbling in the tree, most likely from the two teens.

"Ruby?" The yellow haired girl looked at him in shock.

"You know my sister?" Rex didn't pay her much mind, looking for any sign that she was ok.

"Hev?" Her head popped out of the branches of the tree. Rex allowed himself to smile.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?"

"I...". Some commotion was heard from the right. A ursa had stumbled out of the woods in clear distress. Fae brought up her weapon, but Rex put his hand on its barrel.

"Wait." A pink explosion could be seen through the rain. The ursa gave one last roar before it fell.

"Yeeeeee-haaaaaw." A girl rolled off its back. She wore a pink raincoat with a grenade launcher strapped to it. "Awww... it's broken." Saddened by her mode of transportations breakdown, she jumped onto its neck to look at it more closely. A barley audible... eww could be heard? Rex was having a hard time believing these children were going to be hunters. A boy in a green coat walked up behind the energetic girl

"Nora! Please... don't ever do that again." Nora however, had already took off again. Now she was staring at a rook piece. Rex looked back to the twins. Looks of confusion plastered their faces. Nora started to sing about being queen of the castle. Ren was quick to shut her down. Rex turned to look at the yellow and black haired girls.

Black hair spoke first, "Did that girl just ride a ursa?"

"I...". More commotion from the woods. This time a red and gold girl was being chased out of the woods by a big scorpion.

This amused the twins, "That's a big bug."

"Yep."

The gold red girl called out, "Jaune!"

The yellow haired boy called back, "Pyrrha!" Ruby landed next to the yellow hair girl.

"Ruby!" The yellow haired girl went to give her a hug.

"Yang!" Ruby attempted to reciprocate the hug, but Nora blocked them.

"Nora!"

The black haired girl added, "Did she just run all the way here with a death stalker on her tail." Yang had just been getting angrier and angrier through the entire debacle. This proved enough to tip her over her breaking point.

"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?" After this fit of rage where literal fire came off Yang even the rain seemed to halt. Rex moved to her side with his weapons brought to bear, ready to halt the advancing death stalker. After a few seconds of calm Ruby pulled on her sister's sleeve and pointed up.

"Umm... Yang?" The Schnee was hanging onto the talon of a nevermore.

Weiss called down just loud enough through the rain to be heard, "How could you leave me?"

Ruby shouted up, "I said 'jump'!"

"She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling." Jaune, sensing a moment of redemption, jumped to catch the Heiress. Rex watched as he heroically... fell into the mud.

Weiss mocked, "My hero."

Jaune complained, "My back." Pyhrra, who had seemingly taken a tea break with the monster, jumped to their feet.

Yang's sarcasm wasn't entertaining to anyone but Rex, "Great! The gangs all here! Now we can die together."

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby sounded a battle cry and rushed forward. While the attempt was valiant, it was immature and unnecessary. She was immediately swatted to the side by the monster.

She got up saying, "Don't worry! Totally fine."

Rex called out, "Ruby! Fall back!" Both yang and Rex rushed towards her. The nevermore waved its wings and a torrent of sharp feathers dug into the ground, trapping Ruby by her cape and barring Yang from reaching her sister. All seemed lost as the elder called out to the younger telling her to break free. The death stalker pulled its stinger back, ready to strike. It didn't take into acount one thing, Rex. He stood infront of Ruby and brought his left arm up. A large shield shot down and up from the gauntle, covering Ruby and him entirely. The scorpion struck the shield and its stinger bounced off. With the immediate danger stopped Rex looked back at Ruby. He cut the feather with his gauntlet blade so she could pull her cloak free.

"You had best unfuck yourself Ruby!" She looked at him shocked. "Stop staring and MOVE!" Getting herself free she ran just as the stalker got its stinger ready. Rex braced for another strike, but Weiss froze it in place. They exchanged a nod and ran back to the group. Some people went to get in a huddle, but Rex stopped them. "We don't have time to take a break! Everyone who hasn't taken a piece get one so we can go!" A howl echoed out through the forest. "They have reinforcements on the way, and that ice holding the bug won't stop it forever." On queue the ice started to weaken.

Ren walked over to Rex, "He's right, it's time we left.

Ruby nodded at them, "Let's go." Ruby took off and most of the group followed. All that was left was Yang, Blake, and Rex. Yang looked at Ruby with a proud expression.

"What is it?

"Nothing."

"Enough standing around. We need to move!" As he said that a group of Beowolves entered the other side of the clearing. "Here they come." The three then took off towards the rest of the group.

X

They reached the bridge, but the nevermore trapped them on the other side and away from the rest of the group. Pyhrra, Ren, Blake, Fae, and Rex. It hadn't destroyed the bridge, it just cut them off with feathers. The death stalker hadn't let up its assault either. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Rex yelled over the rain, "We need to push this thing back! Blake! Stay and try to cut through these feathers! Everyone else, support me and help kill this bug!" Blake went to work on chopping the feathers down. Everyone else opened up on the bug. The shots took its attention off of Rex long enough to deliver a strong kick to it's face plate. It shattered and the beast was pushed back. Pyhrra and Ren continued their assault while Fae and Rex got onto a higher platform. The combined attack forced the stalker back and right below Rex and Fae. Fae's weapon, an M249, transformed into a large chainSAW(dO yOu GEt iT?). With a cry she jumped down onto the Grimm. As she fell she cut the stinger off. Rex saw his opportunity and jumped down, kicking the loose stinger into the monster. It's armored plating gave and the stinger penetrated the death stalker. The sharp implement stopped just short of going all the way through. Even without shooting all the way through, the damage proved too much for it. With one last hiss it fell. Pyhrra, Ren, and Fae were about to congratulate each other, until they heard the howls.

X

"Everyone! Fall back to me!" Hev had already fallen back to a raised platform. The three moved back and got onto the ruins of a floor. Hev got down and deployed his shield.

Fae called out, "Blake! How much longer?"

"A minute!" The wall of Grimm approached. Made up of mostly Beowolves and a few ursa. They must've numbered in the hundreds.

"We don't have minute!"

"I'm trying!" Fae turned back to the horde of Grimm and set up her bipod. Hev was slamming his sword into his shield. She was confused at first, until she heard him.

"...ill_, fight, die, _kill, fight, die, KILL, FIGHT, DIE, **KILL, FIGHT, DIE!**" He chanted like a madman. Pyhrra and Ren looked at each other confused. Fae, however, smiled.

"You bastard." The horde approached. They readied their weapons. Hev went silent.

Just before they got 50 yards away Hev cried, "Know no fear!"

Fae called out, "Fire!" A torrent of brass rocked the black wave. The Grimm pushed through the firestorm and reached Hev. Fae watched as the bullets and Hev's sword stalled the monsters. She heard Blake call out to Nora, but missed what she said. Her weapon clicked. Fae moved to reload, but stopped. _Thunk, thunk, thunk. _Moving out of pure instinct, she ducked behind cover. Nora's grenades landed a second later. Hev jumped over her and into cover.

Blake yelled, "The feathers are cleared, let's go!" Fae watched as Hev poked his head over the cover.

"You guys go. I'll hold them a bit longer. Get into a position to help cover me." Fae set her gun back up.

"I'll help." Ren and Pyhrra nodded and fell back. Hev readied his blades and Fae pulled the charging handle of her weapon back. The Grimm had regained there senses by then and had started charging again. Nora had continued her bombardment, but the Grimm were undeterred. Fae layed a wall of bullets down while Hev cut up anything close. She'd put a bullet into one's head and then find another and repeat. Hev slashed and kicked at anything that slinked past her sights. Together they made a amazing wall.

"_SCREEE." _Fae looked up at the recently remembered nevermore only to see a feather fly at her with her name on it.

"Watch out." Hev pushed her to the ground.

X

The feather imbedded itself in Rex's torso. At least he saved Fae. He looked up from his spot in a pool of blood only to see that Fae had caught one in the leg. Well... he kinda saved her. The rain mixed his blood and mud to create a maroon sludge. Was this it? After all he had been through he would die in the hunter initiation?

"No." With that one word he reached behind him and sheared off a bit of the feather so it would weigh him down. After cutting off a little from the front he turned to Fae. She was struggling on the floor and gripping her thigh. He slashed the feather apart. After reducing its size he picked her up fireman style. "Come on Fae, we're not dead yet!" If not for Nora's bombardment of area then they would have been overrun by the black horde. Rex ran towards the bridge with the Grimm hot on his tail, snatching Fae's weapon from the mud on the way. At that point everyone fired on the Grimm to aid in their retreat. The twins and Yang held their fire as they had shotgun type weapons and didn't want to risk friendly fire. Rex moved over the bridge as fast as he could. It wasn't fast enough it seemed, as the nevermore had gotten tired of not getting a kill and attempted to smash the bridge and get two in one. Rex mustered all off his strength and threw Fae halfway across the bridge and onto land. He wasn't so lucky. The big bird smashed into the columns holding the bridge up and brought it and Rex down. The bird had underestimated the weight of the stone construct however, and went crashing down into the misty depths with it. Rex fell and accepted his fate. At least he had saved another.

_"Should you be satisfied with saving only one... I've chosen the wrong heir." _What? He looked around as he fell to find the source of the voice. No one was falling with him. _"Pay no mind right now. I'll reveal myself later. Survive." _Rex felt a weight in his right hand. A sword had appeared. As soon as he gripped it he felt energized. Kicking off of a piece of the falling bridge he rocketed into the walls of the pit. He drove his blade and feet into the stone cavern wall Slid to a stop. Taking a breath he popped out his wrist blade on his left hand and started to climb. The climb up was brutal. The rain beat down on his face and the wind threatened to knock him down the hole, but he climbed up with a zealous devotion. Upon his approach to the top he heard cries. People were screaming his name, but all he could hear was Ruby. Ruby was yelling for him the most ferociously. Her voice threatened to break and she called for him. Eventually, if what he could hear was accurate, Ruby fell to her knees and wept. She then started crying about losing her first friend at Beacon. The cries served to fuel his want to survive. He could hear Yang try to comfort her sister, and fail. Eventually the two got up and moved away from the cliff edge. Rex reached the top and drove his new sword into the hard ground where Ruby sat at a while before. Standing he surveyed the scene. Everyone was focused on a barley conscious Fae. He laughed, gaining everyone's attention.

"We aren't dead yet." With that he promptly fell face first into the mud and blood. The last thing he saw was Ruby rushing towards him.

X

"Would Fae Norden, Luka Lexic, and Yossif Lexic come to the stage." Fae looked up at Ozpin and climbed onto the stage. "You three, along with your comrade, gathered the queen pieces. From this day forward, Fae Norden, Luka Lexic, Yossif Lexic, and Rex Goodwitch shall be team FLYR(flare), led by Fae Norden!" Applause, along with some murmuring could be heard. His name was Rex? But that was her old friend's name. She had to go find out what was going on.

X

Rex woke up with pain in his abdomen. It was a dull roar, but noticeable. He was sitting in a white room and on a white bed. "The infirmary? What happened."

"We got stabbed." Rex looked towards the new voice. "I took a feather to the leg, you took one to the stomach." She had a bandage wrapped around her leg.

"I'm relieved your not permanently hurt. I apologize for throwing you on hard concrete but I believed it to be my only chance to save you." She sat in a chair next to his bed. Rex put on a wide smile.

"I'm glad your alive. I saw you fall, but you just climbed back up." She scowled, "Just like my dear friend. Now I come to find that you both share the name Rex, have a Aura that turns even the most un-mature kids into disciplined soldiers, and can take someone down in a second. If I didn't know better, I would think you were Colonel Rex 'Hev' Thomas. Assigned to the 82nd Sentinel Infantry Division, Second Squad. You answered directly to General Lions 'Godfather' Odin. Do you remember?" She reached over and tried to grab his shoulder. By now Rex's smile had disappeared, replaced by a look of indifference. His hand shot out and grabbed her fingers. They threatened to break as he twisted them downward. He produced his sword from under the covers and placed it against her neck.

"Who are you, Fae?"

She laughed, "You had a certain Fae Johnson under your command. A new recruit that was greener then grass and as tender footed as a newborn. She quickly rose to be lieutenant corporal, your second."

He was shocked, "Fae?" He allowed his grip on her fingers to slip and pulled away his blade. She seized the moment and head butted him back. Disoriented, he laid back on his bed.

"Your rusty Colonel, it's good I'm your new CO. Tell me, why did you go AWOL?"

"Your not Fae, your too young."

"Yes, but your too old to be the 47 year old colonel, yet here you are." Rex shook his head. There was no way she was that Fae.

"No, your not her. Your lying!"

"I'm being truthful. But I'll give you some proof. I remember my first battle with you. The battle for Hill 728 on Bollant. You told me that, 'All cowards can retreat a stain upon the empire.'" Rex stared at the ceiling. He touched his forehead and felt blood. He brought his finger into view and stared at them. At once he was brought back to that battle.

X

Old mud and blood hill, that's what the locals called it. It had been the site of many brutal battles over the centuries. None as brutal as the one currently raging. There hadn't been rain in a month, but there was mud. Blood mixed with dirt and created a river of mahogany sludge. Tanks and soldiers alike sunk in it, drowning in their brothers life force. Millions had been sent to attack this hill, millions had died. Teams would assault up the side of the small mountain only to be exterminated by the sheer volume of fire. The assaulting force had desperately stacked their dead to create makeshift sandbags for cover. One hundred sat behind one such stack. The artillery sprayed dirt and blood on them, yet they held their ground. Bullets whizzed past them, yet they stood undaunted. Their commander stood In front of them.

"Listen up! We are to assault up this hill and take it for the glory of the Empire of Sentinel! Any coward who doesn't have the stomach for this can go back down the hill as a stain upon your empire! Any takers?" He screamed over the sounds of death. No soldier moved to leave, the prestigest 82nd wouldn't be tainted.

"NO SIR!" Them men's voices rang out like thunder.

"Good!" The Commander looked over his troops. Content with his force he held his rifle over his head. "For honor! For glory. FOR SENTINEL!"

At once all of the men gave a furious war cry, "OOOORRRRAAAHHHH!" Like dominos the cry rolled down the mountain and reached every troop assaulting Hill 728. With a wave of force they flew from their cover and charged the top. They trudged through blood and bullets all the way up. Legend says that the commander and his soldiers were covered in so much blood that they became too heavy to move. They say that the 82nd had to take off their gear and fight up the last few hundred feet of the mountain in only their fatigues. That day the 82nd received a new name, "The Bloodied"

X

"Why did you leave? Why did you go AWOL." Rex looked at her and saw the pleading in her eyes. She wanted answer, yet he couldn't give them.

"I can't tell you." She looked at him in shock.

"Really? You can't tell me? Let me guess, you were ordered not to." Rex looked down at his hands. "Of course you were. You were always on a special mission of some kind. Listen, it's just us here. You can tell me!"

"How long was it?"

"How long was what?"

"After I left, how long did you survive?"

She scoffed, "I'm still alive."

"Perhaps you are here, but we're dead from where we came from."

She sat and crossed her arms, "19 years."

Rex smiled, "You'll have to live through one more year. I was ordered to not speak about it until 20 years later." Fae threw up her arms and stormed out of the white room, leaving Rex in silence. It was short lived however.

"I never knew you were a colonel." Rex looked at the door only to see Ozpin.

"Oh, hello Headmaster."

"How are you feeling Rex."

He placed a hand on his stomach bandages. "I'll live."

"I'm referring to your talk with Fae."

"Oh."

"Should you need to speak about anything, including that sword, I'm all ears."

"Sword?" Rex held up his right hand only to see a fantom sword in it.

"That's a special weapon. As I said any training you would need is free of charge. Now get some rest." He disappeared from the door for a brief second before coming back, "Oh, and don't cut yourself." With that the Headmaster left a final time. Rex paid no attention to him and continued staring at the sword. There was strange symbols on it. He had never seen a fraction of them, but there was one he could tell. It was what some would call old eastern Atlesian, or to him, Russian. From this Rex believed that the sword had many languages scrawled onto it.

"Rex!" A red blur crashed into him.

"Ruby?" She squeezed his abdomen tight.

"I thought I lost my first friend at Beacon!" She was on the verge of losing it. Rex gently patted her head.

"It's ok Ruby. You can't get rid of me that easily." Yang strolled through the door and glared at Rex

"What are you doing?"

"Whatever do you mean Yang?"

"Ruby, could you leave for a second?"

"Yang?"

"Please Ruby." Reluctantly she left her spot next to Rex and walked out. Yang closed the door and locked it. "What are you trying to do to my sister?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You fought me at juniors club that night! Your a criminal!"

Rex smiled, "If I remember correctly, you were the initial fighter in both of the engagements. You probably caused thousands in property damages."

"Whatever! What are you trying to do to my sister?"

"I have no interest in doing anything to her. We are friends."

"Bullshit, you want to corrupt her. You want to hurt Ruby! And if you do I will make your life living hell!"

"I do not wish to hurt her. I would be heartbroken if I did. But if you want to make my life hell, you can try. You will not succeed." With that the door was opened. Glynda wore a annoyed look.

"Whoever locked this door, don't do it again." With that she walked away. A certain Rose re-entered the room.

"Yang, please don't scare him."

"Ruby, I..."

"Please!"

"...Fine." Ruby walked over and sat in the seat next to his bed.

"Your forehead is bleeding!"

"Oh," Rex reached up in pretend concern, "So it is, could I get a paper towel?" Yang handed him one with rage clear on her face.

"Rex?"

"Yes Ruby?"

"Were you the one who beat up Yang that night."

Rex sighed, "Yes."

"Do you regret it?"

"I regret hurting her that badly, but I don't regret the fight. If anything, I believe a rematch is in order. Yang?"

"Anytime, anyplace."

"I'll leave the time and place to your discretion."

"You better prepare."

"I would tell you the same thing."

X

**Well, I just set up a fight, and a backstory. I enjoyed writing this chapter for you guys. As always any criticism you can give me is appreciated. I hope you have a good rest of your day. Don't die!!!**


	4. Example

"For the record, I am the price of war."

"Explain." Rex sat across from Ozpin in his office. The sun had yet to rise, but Rex was okay with the dark. Ozpin sat with a notepad in his hands, ready to record every word from Rex. They both held mugs filled with their drink of choice. Coffee for Ozpin, apple cider for Rex. The room was warm, like sitting next to a fire. He could hear the howling wind outside. The light in the room came from a single lap in the room and soft music came from a record player in the corner. Rex believed it to be the Inkspots. Much to Ozpin's dislike Rex smoked a cigar.

"Have you ever walked the line between black and white Headmaster?" Rex took a draw from his cigar and Ozpin took a drink. After a second of thought he replied.

"Every day." Rex took a drink from his cup and offered the cigar to his interviewer. Much to his surprise, the Headmaster took it and took a long draw.

"You smoke cigars Headmaster?" He took the stogie out of his mouth and inspected it.

"In a past life. I don't anymore, it brings forth painful memories." Ozpin cringed and handed it back to Rex.

"Should I stop?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure this conversation brings up painful memories too. Consider it a trade off."

Rex took a long drag and breathed out smoke, "My very existence is the gray line. I was born in hell and became hell. I was made in the fire of war and became it. I've done unspeakable things, but those things have been done to me."

"Cryptic." Ozpin jotted down notes while Rex drank from his cup. "I believe I'm owed a full explanation of yourself."

"Where should I start?"

"Your birth."

X( ok, imma put this here so no one gets confused. _When there is italics like this it's a kind of narration by either Rex or Ozpin._ So don't be confused.)

_"The doctor that delivered me told me that right after I was born my parents started arguing and screaming at each other. My household wasn't loving and nurturing, but it made me tough." _A boy walked through a village in the afternoon. He smiled at everyone that passed him even though he had no reason to. He was bloody from his last meeting with his father, yet he didn't seem to realize. Many people looked on at him in pity, but those looks were reciprocated with a kind smile. Many people say that looking upon the child was a great cure for any sadness, as he simply radiated joy. All knew of his parents, if they could be called that. His father was the town alcoholic, his mother the town drugie. In the face of this the town had adopted him as the "Community Kid." No one dared to scold the guardians of the boy, as they would kill people who told them how to parent. _"A suprisingly optimistic outlook." _The boy looked at a girl crying in the grass slightly off the dirt path. Many people were either too busy looking at him to notice her or simply didn't care. Stepping through the crowd he towards the girl he mustered all his strength. Stopping behind her, he bent down and hugged her. She stopped sobbing and tensed up. Speaking softly he said, "It's ok. It's ok." She relaxed and fell into the hug. She cried away all the pain she had and enjoyed the company of this strange boy. It was short lived however, as the drunk father came and took the boy away by the neck. Even though his father squeezed his neck hard enough to leave marks, even though not getting the father his booze on time meant a beating for the boy, even though his life held little to no meaning anymore, the boy kept his smile. It was the only defiance he could muster. _"Perhaps, but men need to rationalize thing that don't make sense. It was the only lie I could tell myself that made sense." _

A day passed and the boy was once again seen walking the streets. It was dark and dreary. The people of the village were low in spirits, and the boy sought to change that. New scars were etched into his face. And yet he didn't see this as a bad thing, and he told everyone with a smile how cool they would look when he got older. His joy was infectious, and so the day turned into a celebration. The streets were filled with laughter and happiness in spite of the gray sky. It seemed as though the boy was a hero, an incorruptible force for good. _"I was joyful in the face of hell, but hell didn't care for my happiness." _The boy was held in his room for a week afterwards. It was a Friday when he was last seen. Rumor has it that men in black gave the drunk father money in exchange for his son. The son smiled and hopped into a van with the men and was off._ "I was taken from my home, but I believe it was for the better."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because it turned me into a machine, and machines don't feel pain." _The boy sat with many others in the dark and damp room. The darkness was almost tangible, so the children huddled together for safety. It only served to anger the dark however, as they were shocked and beaten vigorously when they came in contact with each other. Eventually, after a few days of starvation and beating they were let out of their cage and into blinding light. Before being allowed to survey their situation, they were shot at from behind. The air was filled with smoke and the mud below him gave with every step. The boy quickly believed he was outside. Screams could be heard far behind him from the boy's unlucky enough to be shot. He figured that he was in the front of the pack. He regained vision just in time to jump over barbed wire. The silver metal gleamed as it sunk into the less aware boy's shins. Their screaming was quickly silenced by the gunmen. At last he could see far enough to effectively make his way out of this kill zone. He was surrounded by green trees and yellow flowers, and seven feet high walls. That's where the gunmen were. They fired down from the walls at the children in the back. Some couldn't have been older then him and struggled with the recoil of their rifles. Others were much older then him, and they hit their targets just fine. The path ahead was clear except for randomly placed barbed wire and small prongs sticking out of the ground. Choosing to avoid them, he danced around each prong with agility unbefiting a 10 year old suffering from starvation. A few seconds later explosions rocked the ground behind him. The prongs were only the tip of the iceberg it seemed, as explosives were buried below. "Mine...!" A kid tried to shout out behind him, but was immediately shot up by all the gunmen. _"They thought that they were better than me, for that they paid dearly."_ A man jumped down from the wall despite others telling him not to. He wore a patches all over his vest of a cracked skull and knife though it. The boy dived into the dirt and right onto barbed wire. He was about to scream in pain, until he remembered the gunmens hate for voices. He covered his mouth as boy's ran past him. They were gunned down instantly. It looked like they were boxed in by the killers. He heard what could only be explained as horrible words from the top. The gunman was distracted by his friends up top, presenting the boy with a opportunity to strike. Through teary eyes and muffled screams of pain, he wrapped the wire around his right hand and formed a very painful sort of brass knuckle. _"I don't know what came over me then, but I knew it was me or him. It wouldn't be me." _With utter silence he rushed the soldier and tore at his throat. The barbs tore through his skin and punctured his larynx. Making a fist, the boy tore the mans throat out. Blood trickled down the improvised brass knuckles and fell onto the boy's skin. The gunfire and screams seemed to fade away for a moment, and the dying man was the only thing the boy saw. He struggled and held his neck in a vain hope he would survive. There was regret on his face where moments ago there was a smile. Men started screaming from up on the wall, reminding the boy about his situation. Quickly grabbing the fallen man's gun, he sprayed the gunmen down, successfully hitting two and pining the rest. The boy turned back around and ran. A door had opened at the far end of the kill zone and light flooded out of it. It was blindingly bright and inviting. Slinging the weapon, he ran towards it. Bullets rained down around him, but he remained undeterred in his run. As he approached the opening he felt warm and happier. With one last leap he jumped through the opening. He was immediately shot in the leg by a man on the inside. The man watched him fall, having no urgency to finish off the boy. He hit the ground and felt a sharp pain in his hip. Thinking fast, he wheeled the gun around and aimed at the man. The gunmen's face lit up with fear, and then it was ripped apart by a bullet, all in the span of a second. _"You fought for your life despite having no training, impressive." _

_"I wouldn't call it that, it was just instinct." _The boy tried to get up, but a strong kick was delivered to the back of his head. The floor became blurry and his brain mush. The glare from the bright lights became too bright and the gunfire to loud. He noticed how cold the floor was and how hungry he was. Some long piece of metal touched the back of his head.

"Stop!" A voice called out and the metal was removed. A man in a blue uniform walked into his view. "Good job, you'll do nicely. Kill the rest and patch this one up!"

_"And like that, I became a soldier."_

X

"Over the rest of my childhood years I was tested on, built up to perfection, tore down to nothing, and taught more ways to kill then most think possible. I became the 'superist super soldier,' if you understand." Rex took another drag from his cigar. A silence followed, not uncomfortable, but not perfectly comfortable either.

"A sad story to be sure, but yours nonetheless."

Ozpin stared at the door with distaste, "You!" Rex turned around to that a black mass was the source of the new voice. It had the figure of a human, but it was covered with a cloak of constantly moving black liquid. It had a hood which encased his face in total shadow

"You greet me like a villain. Oh how you wound me!" Rex turned around and blew out the smoke in his mouth.

"You sound familiar, do I know you?"

The man held his hands up to his chest, "Oh, how improper of me!" He bowed and placed his hands at his sides. "I am Imperator. Or, to you, the falling voice." The falling voice? If memory served him correctly...

A smile found its way to Rex's face, "The sword."

"Ah, you remember."

"Uh-hem," Rex heard Ozpin clear his throat, "You know him, Rex?" The teen turned back towards Ozpin and breathed in the cigar.

"Know may be an over exaggeration. He helped me during initiation though, and gave me the sword." He took the weapon out of its sheathe on his side and inspected it. "And might I add that it's a fine weapon." Imperator walked up and placed a hand on Rex's shoulder.

"That's what a certain Jacques Schnee said, until it disappeared from his collection." Upon taking a closer look at the weapon, Rex noticed the striking similarity to the one he gave to Weiss Schnee a while back. "Of course, I gave it my own stylist flare. Can't have anyone linking it and the sold 'antique,' can we?" Now that he mentioned it, the sword was nearly jet black. The many languages decorating its sides were also new when compared with the 'antique,' as Imperator put it.

"These words, what do they mean?"

"Ah, inquisitive, I like it. That, my dear boy, is a name in every single language on the face of Remnant. Your ultimate title if you will."

"Which is?"

"Not so fast heir. You must earn the ultimate title first. But I guess I should give you your first title. Please, stick your tongue out." Rex turned to the cloaked man in confusion. "Come now heir, you must trust me." Reluctantly, Rex poked his tongue out. The room suddenly smelled of charcoal and ash. The black liquid covering Imperator churned and bubbled angrily. Blood red circles opened and peared out from under the oppressive darkness of the hood, lighting the room up. Waves of black liquid crashed together on the cloak, and from the collisions long spikes emerged. They twisted and curled in on themselves before eventually falling back towards Imperator. Eventually one spike caught traction and started to steadily grow. It eventually turned into a long tendril with a point on the end. It inched closer and closer to Rex's face before stopping right over his tongue. In a quick motion, it shot down stabbed it. There wasn't pain immediately, but then Imperator held his hand infront of Rex's mouth. Ripping sounds could be heard from inside Rex's mouth. The pain was horrible, a mix of burning and slicing and tearing. After a few seconds of pain and Ozpin holding a hand over his mouth to hold back the incoming bile, the pain stopped. There was something in his mouth, and it was big. He tried to move it around with his tongue, but there wasn't enough room in his mouth. Looking at Imperator's hand, he spit whatever was in his mouth out into his palm.

"My lord."

"Indeed."

"No matter how many times I see it, I still want to puke." Along with a hefty amount of blood, Rex had spit out his entire tongue. Rex quickly put a hand in his mouth to feel if he still had a tongue. Much to his suprise, he did.

"Rex, look here." Imperator took his hand away from Rex's mouth and put up his other. At once a mirror like surface appeared. Rex stuck his tongue out. In the place where Rex's old tongue used to be, there was a black mass made of the same liquid running across Imperator. It quickly changed pigments and became almost normal, except for a splotch of black at the back and various veins running through it. "May I be the first to congratulate you on your new title, Brother Black." Imperator spoke in a joyous tone. "Now anytime you need me, just speak my name. I shall be at arms reach. Now, for your gift."

"Was the tongue not a gift?"

"No Brother Black, it is your badge of office. Give me your cloak." Rex grabbed his cloak protectively. "Oh Rex, ye of little faith." With an sigh, he handed it over. It was quickly engulfed in the liquid black. "Here, your gift." As soon as Rex put it on the dark corners of the room became completely lit up. He could see through every shade and shadow, and yet he knew where they were perfectly. "Your gift, it is a powerful weapon. The gift of sight."

"Wait, would you please explain the tongue thing again."

"Should you need me, just call-"

"Yeah I get that, what does it mean. And why did I just through up my tongue?" Rex was nearing his limit of bullshit.

Imperator let out a sigh, "Honestly kids these days. You can call out my name should you need help in battle. But be cautious, as you can only do it once. You can call out for me however many times you need outside of combat, but I will be limited to, essentially, a walking encyclopedia."

"I guess that's useful."

"I've come to expect that reaction honestly, it's the most common one I get."

"You've done this to others?"

"Oh yes, just ask Ozpin. He loves watching the bestowing of titles, especially the body part replacing. Isn't that right Ozy boy?" Rex turned around only to see Ozpin hunched over a garbage can. Heavy breathing could be heard, along with the occasional mutter of something. "Well, I must take my leave. I wish you good luck in the school year Brother Black. I will be back with a mission for you in a few days." Before questions could be asked the shadows darkened and he disappeared. The sun has started to rise during the course of the conversation, and so Rex said goodbye to the Headmaster(who attempted so say it back, but failed) and left to start the rest of his day.

X

It seemed that he wasn't the first of his team to class, but he did beat team RWBY and team JNPR. He held the door open for them as they rushed into the class. He wasn't thanked, but he believed that the enjoyment he got out of their antics covered any cost. Laughter erupted out of the door, signaling to Rex that he could enter relatively unnoticed. Rex walked through the door only to see both teams tangled with each other on the floor. "Rex, team RWBY, team JNPR," The laughter stopped and everyone turned to the professor, "Please, get to class earlier next time. I would want this to become a normal occurrence."

Rex nodded his head, "Yes Sir." With that he walked over to three waving hands. Fae looked annoyed, while the twins smiled with malicious glee.

"Where were you this morning, I thought you left!"

"I went to talk with the Headmaster about things." She nodded in understanding and patted a empty spot next to her.

"Well now that your here, why don't you sit. If I can trust upperclassmen we have one hell of a boring lecture ahead."

He did, and Yossif immediately passed him a lunch box. "Place your bets on who losses their shit first boss."

Fae took exception to that, "He's not your boss. You have a leader, and it's me."

"Yeah, you're the leader, but Rex is the boss." Luka took over for her brother. "Boss is like second in command." The twins repeatedly nodded and looked back and forth between each other and Fae. Fae argued back and forth with them about the team's hierarchy. For a second it felt like they were family.

"I don't bet, but if I did I would bet 1,000 Lien on Weiss Schnee snapping first."

The twins all but blew Fae off in amazement, "Wow! How do you know?"

"Easy, her and Ruby's personalities don't mix well. If it doesn't get fixed now they'll have a hell of a year." The twins placed their fingers under their chins in a thinking gesture. After a few minutes of silence, class started.

X

Grimm studies is a subject that is infinitely interesting, the only reason so many slept in the class was the teacher. Port droned on and on about personal stories and accomplishments(which Rex doubted were his own), all the while almost oblivious to the pain and suffering of his students. The class, however, was nothing but resourceful. Everyone had their own way of pushing through the class. The twins played cards. Their box of betting money securely placed under their feet. Fae slept peacefully, how she did so he couldn't fathom as she had taken a uncomfortable looking sleeping position. Her arms held onto her desk as her head dipped down towards the floor. Rex had been the only one of his team to attempt to gleam information from the useless lesson. He had failed quite spectacularly though, and so he started to doodle in his notebook instead. His aimless art eventually turned into battle plans. He drew up strategies for many of the eventualities of team battles. A copy of Art of War sat off to his side, ready to be reviewed as needed. Briefly looking up from his notebook, he looked over at team RWBY. Ruby was attempting to get Weiss's attention. Weiss was, for the most part, succeeding in not acknowledging her, but her fuse was running short. She had somehow taken notes through the "lesson." Rex made a mental note to ask her for them later. Yang looked bored out of her mind. She leaned over her desk and sighed loudly. Blake was holding up a class textbook and reading out of a smaller one hidden inside. Every time she would turn a page her bow would... twitch? Rex would look into that later. He tried to return to his battle plans, but Port seemed to have a keen eye. "Team FLYR( **I just realized that I never specified how to pronounce the name. It is pronounced Flier, like a high flier.)**, you haven't been paying attention the entire lesson. What do you have to say?" Rex elbowed Fae, who woke with a start and caused some laughter in the class.

"Sir, me and Fae were making battle plans. She put her head down so you would not see her talking."

"Is that so? Young lady, is that true?" Fae nodded rapidly at him while looking very unsure.

Port didn't buy it, "Well, if you both went over it, why don't you one of you come down and write it. The other will explain from your seat." Fae immediately panicked and looked to Rex for a plan of action. He slid Art of War towards her and opened it. Giving the line he wanted her to read a slight tap he rose and made his way to the chalkboard with a notebook in hand. He started to draw on the board while Fae read.

"It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army in two. If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him." Rex had drew a four on four fight in which many lines flew back and forth between the combatants. All the students focused on him, finding much more interest in his drawing then anything Port could say.

Rex spoke, "With a even fight, you may enter into open combat, but hit and run tactics should be prioritized. Open ground should be avoided and enclosed spaces favored." Port looked over the diagram. After finding no mistakes, he nodded and sent Rex back to his seat. The twins cheered for him back to his seat

"Hell yeah boss!"

"Light work boss!" Rex smiled at the childish glee of his teammates. He sat next to Fae. She smiled at him and handed back his book.

"Thanks Rex, you really saved me some embarrassment."

"Hey, I live to serve ma'am." He gave her a quick salute and a smile. She smiled back and looked towards the front. Rex did the same. Ruby was annoying Weiss by telling her how cool that was and how she would be just as good of a leader as him.

Port looked over the class, "Now who thinks they can demonstrate this?" There wasn't even a delay before Weiss's hand shot up

"I do Sir!"

X

The next day had come. The "falling out" between Ruby and Weiss(as if it could even be called that due to their relationships one sided nature) had been fixed. Today was the first combat class, and Rex wasn't very excited. This was due to his most likely opponent, Yang. He did not fear her, nor think himself less capable of combat than her, but he would have to make an example of her. He would have to end the fight as quickly and brutally as possible to put her in her place, as well as anyone who thought themselves better then him. He, however, enjoyed Ruby, and worried that he might damage their relationship. He had grown rather attached to the young girl, and viewed her as a sort of little sibling. He hoped that Yang would have understood that he meant Ruby no harm by this class. His hope was destroyed as he walked into the room. Yang immediately cracked her knuckles and neck towards him in a threatening manner. Rex sighed and made his way over to Team RWBY with the rest of his team in tow. He chose the seat next to Yang and readied himself for the impending dick measuring contest she would start. "You come over here to forfeit our fight?"

"No, I just figured that if we need to fight we should sit next to each other. It would shorten the distance we need to walk and shake each other's hands."

"You mean shorten the distance you need to crawl on all fours to beg me to go easy on you?"

Fae had enough, "Hey, you don't talk to my team member like that!" She glared at Yang with a look of anger.

"Keep out of this girly." Yang shot back. They were about to kill each other before Glynda caught them.

"Ms. Norden, Ms. Xao-Long, please take your seats!" They did so. "Who started this argument?"

Rex stood and crossed his arms behind his back, "I did Ma'am. Yang and I got into a argument, Fae had nothing to do with it."

"Is that so, well then, why don't you two start off class?" Yang gained a devilish smirk and turned towards Rex.

"Don't keep me waiting in the arena."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Rex held his hand out for a handshake, which she never reciprocated. It was personal now. This fight would be brutal and short

X

Rex walked into the arena in his gear. Yang was already there, cockily telling everybody who would listen how she would wipe the floor with him. Many people knew her at signal, and were scared of her. People started betting on who would win. Ruby looked on anxiously, scared of what Yang would do to the boy.

"Well Rex, this is your last chance to back out." Rex didn't reply, opting to just pull his hood up.

Glynda spoke, "Here are the rules..."

Yang cut he off, "We know. Just start the match."

"Very well. We'll talk about your tone later Ms. Xao-Long. Fighters ready?" Yang got into a fighting stance and glared at Rex. He deployed his shield and unsheathed his sword. He slammed his sword on his shield and got ready. "Begin!" Yang had learned from past experiences and opted to not charge blindly, instead staying still. Rex banged his sword against his shield and moved forward slowly. Every loud metallic bang served to put everyone in the room on edge. When Rex got within seven feet of Yang she lost her patience. With a yell she rushed forward and delivered a strong right hook to his shield.

It was a fatal mistake. Rex jabbed his sword into her side. That act wouldn't do much alone, but he wasn't done. His gauntlet sparked to life and pushed electricity into the black sword he held. Her muscles seized and she stood shaking. After a few seconds of that he let off and she fell to her knees. Rex proceeded to deliver a titanic kick to her face and knock her on her back. Before she could rise to retaliate Rex stuck his improvised shock baton into her gut and delivered a hell of a charge. Her eyes turned red and her hair glowed, but not even her semblance could combat electric paralysis. Many students in the audience looked on in horror, shock, respect, entertainment, or a mix of everything. The twins sat slack jawed, Fae covered her eyes, Ruby had her hands over her mouth, Blake had taken her nose out of her book and couldn't look away, Weiss sat scared. After a few seconds of Yang not being able to fight back Glynda called the match. "Stop! Yang Xao-Long is unable to fight. Rex Goodwitch wins." Rex removed the sword and brought his shield to bear in case Yang attempted to attack. Much to his amusement, as soon as he took away the charge she scooted back and looked at him with fear in her eyes. Her team jumped into the arena and stood between them.

Weiss took charge, "What's your problem?" She shouted at him with rage evident in her voice. The arena was quiet. Everyone waited for his response.

Rex looked around Weiss at Yang, and then back to Weiss, "I fought her and won. What's the problem?"

She was furious, "The problem is what you did! You didn't need to do that!"

"Why?"

"Why you!" She was about to rush him, until Ruby stopped her.

"Weiss, help me get her to the infirmary."

"But..."

"Weiss!"

"...Ok." She reluctantly took her eyes off Rex to help her leader. Blake took Weiss's position as a watch dog, taking in Rex's every movement. He still had his sword and shield out, ready for use should he need. She stared at him with cold judgment, she had condemned him to scum. He could care less about her. Ruby and Weiss walked past supporting Yang.

Rex stopped them, "Ruby, your sister has no permanent damage. The most she'll get is a rash where the electricity ran through her body. All she needs is rest. If I caused you discomfort I apologize. Yang," The person in question looked over in fear, "Do not test me further." With that Rex sheathed his weapons and walked over to Glynda, already knowing about the future scolding.

"Rex." Ruby called out to him. He turned and took of his hood. "Please don't do that again." Rex gave a nod and she left, team in tow.

"Class dismissed, Rex, I need to speak to you."

Oh boy.

**Oh boy indeed. That's 4 baby, and I'm going strong. I don't know if I'm just a psychopath or not, but making the "fight scene," between Rex and Yang was great fun. On a slightly unrelated note I have something to say. For some reason, I think the song Nikolaj Hardbasov (Dj Pelix remix) by hardbass school goes really well with RWBY. Do you? If you do go and listen to it then tell me. As always criticism is appreciated. Have a good day! Don't die!**


	5. Ash

**Man, procrastination's a bitch innit?**

**X**

The armory in Beacon was essentially a multi tool. You could build, repair, add onto, or destroy any weapon with ease and for free. The caveat was that modifications had to be simple because of the lack of specialized machines. Rex had taken weapon maintenance into account while at the school, but had forgotten to go over all his possible modifications for his gauntlets. Because of that slip up, he lacked the proper supplies for modification. He sat and Brainstormed ideas for a work around, but was quickly running out of patience and time before class started. Rex sighed, perhaps the modification wasn't needed. "You have a perfect line to any help you need, yet you never call." Rex turned in his swivel chair to face the new voice. "It's almost like you don't like me." Imperator walked over to the desk Rex sat at. He quickly looked over the blueprints spread the table before looking to Rex. "What are you making?"

"My shield is kinda transparent so I can tell what's on the other side. I wanted to make it a sort of one way mirror design. So I can see my opponent but they can't see me."

"I can make that for you free of charge... well, almost free of charge."

"Oh, how much money?"

"Not money." Rex crossed his arms and sat back in the chair.

"Oh, do you need my heart next?" Rex pushed as much sarcasm into his voice as he could.

"No, just your lungs." Rex almost scoffed, until he realized Imperator wasn't joking. He stood up and stared at the black cloaked figure.

"And this won't damage me?"

"No, but it will hurt. Much more than your last title did."

"And I will get a new title?"

"Yes Brother Black, and a new ability to boot." Rex put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Alright, let's do it." Imperators cloak lengthened and fell in front of him. Much like last time, a tendril lengthened and protruded from his figure. It slithered through the air towards his chest slowly and deliberately. Rex watched the tip of it as it got close, wondering how it would get to his lungs. It wouldn't exactly be simple, as it was protected by ribs, flesh, and muscle, but it would be interesting to see how Imperator would bestow his "Title." Maybe he would phase through his chest, perhaps he would send it down his throat. His imagination did little to comfort him. Imperator's actual way of giving him a title was much more barbaric then what he imagined. The tendril momentarily stopped right infront of his chest... and then drove straight through and dug into his lungs. Rex fell to his knees in pain. Imperator wasn't done however, as another tendril shot down and widened the hole in his chest. "Hhhrrk, gah!"

"Come now Rex, its not that bad." Rex had started to choke and flail about. He grabbed at the foreign objects lodged in his chest, but the would budge. Just when he started to black out from oxygen deprivation...he became able to breath again. With his respiratory problem solved, he looked down at the hole in his chest. Red sludge poured from it. Not blood, sludge with the consistency of watery mashed potatoes. It all fell into the darkness of Imperators cloak. Saying that it was absorbed by the cloak might actually be a better way of describing it. After a minute of Chest drainage Imperator spoke, "Well, now that that's done we need to fix this hole. I hope you like new abs." The tendrils sheared off and sort of melted into his body, mending the broken bones and flesh. Then it formed a layer over his chest similar to reinforced abs. "There, now you have a armored front."

Rex stood and brushed himself off, "That wasn't pleasant."

"I'm proud of you though, you didn't scream."

"It wasn't for lack of trying I assure you."

"Humble, we both know you've been through worse."

"A story for later."

"I won't pry, now, onto your gift." Imperator took Rex's shield into his hands. Black liquid flowed out of his arms and over the shield until nothing showed. The liquid angrily churned for awhile. After a minute or two the liquid receded into imperator's arms and he gave Rex's shield back. It looked the same.

"What did you do?"

"Well, now you can change between see through and mirror at will. Give it a try." Rex eyed the shield carefully before picking it up. The shield changed, but he couldn't figure out how to change it back.

"How do I..."

"...Change the mode? It's quite easy, you only need to think about what you want it to do. There are no buttons, just you." Bringing the shield to eye level, Rex once again tried to Change it. This time it obeyed his every command. "Well, now onto your new title," He placed his hand above Rex's head, "From this day forward, you shall shed the name Brother Black. You shall instead inherit the name, Heir of Night! Now, I have a mission for you."

Rex looked up at Imperator, "I'm yours to command."

X

Rex sat in the cafeteria eating breakfast and reading from the folder Imperator gave him. He had gotten up before his team, so he sat alone in a corner of the spacious building. People looked at him out of the corner of their eyes and mumbled to each other about the fight he had with Yang. Rumors had already hijacked the story, and apparently he had either beaten Yang with the power of his mind or bitch slapped her until she gave up. The strangest of all the stories was that he had convinced her to beat herself up. Long story short, he had a little bit of infamy to his name now. Hopefully the stories would stop people from picking fights with him. The whispering suddenly stopped, and then began again with many saying something about Ruby? Rex turned around towards the door and the rest of the room to find out what the commotion was about. Ruby and her team walked right towards him. Ohhhh they were talking about RWBY... that would get confusing.

Ruby stopped right in front of him and stared into his eyes, "Hi Rex."

"Hullo."

"Can we sit with you?"

"Certainly." Weiss became very apprehensive. She whispered to her leader

"Didn't we come to make him apologize to your sister?"

Ruby thought for a second before realizing her mistake, "Oh right! Rex?" He stood and looked around for the blonde in question. She was nowhere to be found.

"Your sister... isn't here." Weiss and Blake took a break from glaring at him and parted to reveal a very meek looking Yang. Sensing her sudden detection, Yang took a step away from Rex while looking at Weiss and Blake with utter betrayal. Gone was the confident fighter that was going to wipe the floor with him. What stood infront of him was a scared kid. The cafeteria was deadly silent, none dared to move lest they spark a slaughter. Yang looked absolutely petrified. Ruby stood by, watching closely. Weiss and Blake were ready to attack Rex should he try anything. A moment of silence passed and brought with it such a tense situation the air could be cut with a knife. How fitting

Rex sighed, and then spoke, "It has been a long standing tradition in my family to give a weapon to a worthy opponent as a sign of peace. A way to show them that you're not enemies, but comrades." Rex drew a black and gold knife from his cloak and stepped towards Yang. Her bodyguards, Weiss and Blake, stopped him.

"Oh no no no, you're not getting anywhere near her with that knife." Weiss stated this like he was completely powerless against her. Blake was a bit more cautious and opted to just stand ready. The three were at a complete standstill. The girls did not dare to move against him, he was using all his patience to not just bat them out of the way. The entire cafeteria was frozen in anticipation. Some people even stopped to look so quickly their forks were halfway to their mouths. Without outside help, the cafeteria might of been stuck like this forever.

Good thing a couple of his team mate were searching for him.

The cafeteria doors busted open and a banshee by the name of Fae stepped through. "Reeeexxxxx!"

Did he say searching? He meant hunting.

Everyone in the cafeteria turned to the rest of team FLYR's arrival, presenting Rex with an opportunity to break through the wall protecting Yang. With deft agility he moved between them and grabbed Yang by the arm. After giving her a quick spin so she had her back to Weiss and Blake. Rex then stood infront of her. "Hey!" Blake had noticed and moved to grab him.

"Guys, stop!" Ruby called out. Weiss and Blake turned to face their leader.

"But he'll hur..."

"No he won't, I trust him."

"But..."

"It's fine," Yang had said that. Rex turned and looked into her eyes. Gone was the fear, in its place was reassurance. "If Ruby trusts him, so do I." She gave a weak smile, one which Rex reciprocated. He gently raised her hands to chest level and placed the knife in it. He turned the blade so it pointed right at him. She stared at his hands clasped around hers and the knife with a wary look. He let go of her and brought out a small scabbard for it. He placed it right below the knife with the open end pointing towards her.

"If you accept my offer of peace, slide the blade into the scabbard. If you don't, stab me, and I won't resist." Immediately she moved to put the blade in it's sheathe. Rex stopped her. "Please think about this. Don't act out of fear or out of what you think others want. You need to act out of your own will and your will alone." With that he repositioned the blade to where it was before. Everyone watched with the upmost interest. Fae had reached them, but froze and watch the interaction with a look of anxiety. After a moment of deliberation, Yang made her choice. She placed the knife in the hilt.

"This is my own choice." With that he smiled and brought her into a embrace. A loud sigh of relief could be heard from Fae, and the cafeteria returned to eating. Rex broke from the hug and pushed the weapon into her hands.

"Should you ever require assistance, don't hesitate to call upon me." With that he turned to the others. "Well, shall we sit?"

While the rest moved to the table, Ruby walked over to Fae. "Hello Fae." Fae looked at the Red Reaper with a tired expression.

"Ruby."

"We're you worried?"

"Why?"

"You sighed." Fae looked over to Rex as he sat next to Yang and sparked up a conversation.

"When he said he wouldn't resist if she tried to stab him... he meant it. He would've gladly died because of a stupid little tradition."

"Really?"

"Really." Ruby thought for a second before turning to the table and walking towards her friends. Fae soon followed.

X

"Imperator." The being in question appeared out of the many shadows of the forest trees.

"You called?" Rex sat on one knee on a clif overlooking a large camp outside of a cave formation.

"Go over the job again."

Imperator walked over and stood by Rex's crouching figure, "This roving cell of White Fang terrorists has moved from place to place, spreading terror all the while. But they recently stopped by this cave and haven't moved in days. Through observation, I have determined that they send two men into the cave a day. Those two never come back out."

"And...? Do I kill them?"

"Yes, but the main goal is finding out why people don't come out of that cave."

"Leave it to me." With that Rex slid down the cliff towards the dead men.

X

A team of PMC's from the SDC were nearing the White Fang camp. They currently sat in their bullhead waiting to be told when they were over the LZ. "Captain?"

"Private?"

"What are we doing again?"

"God dammit Gomez. I already told you!" One of the other soldier called to the tenderfoot with annoyance. The captain stood. It was hard to see in the dim lights of the cabin, but he wore a standard issue grey vest and jumpsuit. Schnee family crests lined his and all his men's uniforms, clearly displaying their allegiance.

"That's alright, I can go over it again with everyone," He pulled a small tablet from a pocket and tapped on it twice, "Our mission is to exterminate all the filthy terrorists in the area. There are reports that the cave they are outside is housing plans for troop movements and raids planned for later this month. Most importantly, the regional commander of the White Fang will be there coordinating operations. This is a high risk op gentlemen, one that will earn us medals." Multiple woops and hollers could be heard within the vtol.

"I'm going to kill me some animals boys!"

"And they'll give us medals for it!" Everyone in the vehicle shared a laugh before the captain brought them back.

"Remember, if your not careful, you'll get a medal AND a body bag! Once we land spread out and cover each other. We're not expected, but they might roll out the good china if they hear our birds."

With that the pilot called out, "Ten seconds!" The cabin became filled with cocking guns and a cool calmness. The bullhead doors opened a second later and rope spilled from the sides. Seven men fast ropped to the ground and set up a perimeter. As the last man got into position the ropes were cut and the vtol flew up into the sky and disappeared into the night. The men brought down their NVG's and set off towards the enemy encampment.

X

Rex looked around the insides of the strangely lighted cave. There were no floodlights he could see, nor any flashlights, but the entire cave was covered in a blue light. Along with being well lighted, the cave was lined with scorch marks. There would be portions of stone completely blackened with sudden abrupt endings going straight into untouched rock. The deeper he delved into the cave system the more scorch marks he found. But that wasn't even the most interesting thing. Ash lay everywhere. After a few minutes of walking the ash eventually built up so much it came to his knees. There was no sign of the people sent into this cave, not even foot prints.

"Imperator." There was no response. "Imperator." Nothing, not even the air moved in the cave. "Imperator!" Wind rushing could be heard quite a ways ahead of him. It came closer and closer, getting louder and louder.

He answered in a panic, "Heir Listen, it hurts to be here so I won't talk for long. There is a mask on your left hip. Put it on and don't take it off. Whatever you do, don't trust her!" Mask? He didn't bring one along. He checked his left hip and sure enough there was a gas mask dangling from his hip. He pulled it off and looked at it. It looked like a regular old military mask. It had one big glass piece for seeing through and two side filtration pieces. It was low tech compared to where he came from, but it worked. After sufficiently inspecting it, he thought about the brief "conversation" with Imperator. Who was "she?" Better yet, why was he so panicked? His thoughts were cut short due to the deafening roar of the wind in the cave. Quickly remembering the instructions of Imperator, he threw on the mask.

The wave of ash hit just as the mask was secured. It seemed to come out of nowhere and materialize right infront of him. The sudden appearance of a semi-solid wall knocked him on his back and into a sea of ash. Visibility was zero, he couldn't even see his hands infront of his face. He suddenly had to fight as the ash pilled on top of him. Struggling to keep above the ocean of ash was only made harder without his ability to see, but he fought until he made it out. Assuming he would come out near the top of the cave, he stuck his hand out to touch the ceiling... only to fall onto his face and hard stone. He could see again, or so he thought. It was pitch black now. This was something he knew how to actually deal with however. He stood and tried to throw up his hood. Ash was immediately dumped into his head. With a sigh he cleaned it out and tried again. Instead of instantly seeing through all the shadows in the room like Imperator had advertised the cloak doing, nothing happened. He was still blind. A little annoyed, Rex pulled a flashlight from one of his vest pockets and turned it on. He could see, but saw nothing but floor. The walls must've been far away because the light only revealed black. Turning around, he saw a large wall of ash higher than his lights range. Other than that, there was no ash in the room. It sounded like a light snow storm in the cave. A soft wind blew through the cave. It would've been peaceful if not for his lack of sight and mask.

"And me." Rex dropped to the ground and looked around for the voice. He couldn't find anyone however. "You think I would reveal myself? How stupid are you?" The voice was like nails against a chalkboard, like metal on metal, like a car crash. But it had a sort of feminine touch, a subtle gentle warmth. Imperators words of warning rung out in his head, so he shut his mouth and stood.

It was dark, maybe he would come now, "Imperator." Nothing, "Imperator!"

"Don't call out his name in my presence!" The cave shook with vigor not even seen in earthquakes. Rex barely managed to stand through the violence. "You're marked by him, I will enjoy killing you." A orange light appeared in the distance. With a sudden rush of wind it got closer. Not waiting for whatever it was, Rex looked around for a place to bunker down. There was a crevasse big enough for him to fit in, so he dived in. It was just in time, as a wave of heat and flames rushed past his head and covered the entire cave.

"If she wants a fight, she has one." Rex raised his gauntlets and attempted to extend the blades. They, however, wouldn't budge. Upon a brief inspection he found that the mechanical bits were choked up by ash. This shouldn't of happened, he built them so they would have this problem! None of their features worked! The shield wouldn't deploy, the gun barrel wouldn't raise, the electricity would work. This wasn't good.

"Oh how sad, the little soldier from another world broke his toys. Your right, they shouldn't jam, but I used some special ash on them. You walked into my house, I only thought it fair that I get a home field advantage." Rex stomped his foot in annoyance. It landed on something hard however. Rex looked down and saw what it was. A standard issue White Fang rifle lay below him.

"Hmm, I found out where all the grunts went." Rex talked to himself as he picked up the weapon. He pulled the bolt back and looked for ash inside. It looked completely pristine. He aimed up into the fire and fired off a shot. It worked.

"Seems I missed one. Your welcome to use it." The Fire let up and Rex poked his head out of the hole. There was a blue light a ways away from him, but it didn't move. Taking his chances, Rex got out of the hole and started towards the light. He brought his gun up and scanned the cave for any movement. There was a rail on the weapon that perfectly fit his light, so he put it on. Now sufficiently lit, he walked slowly. The room was now covered in ash. "From what I've heard, you're quite the soldier. Hundreds of kills, over 100 medals, two entire planets worth of genocides to your name. Perhaps your kill count should be raised, though you didn't look them in the eyes when you killed them so I guess it doesn't count." Rex continued to move towards the light, ignoring the voice. "Oh, the cold shoulder. How fitting. Perhaps another gout of fire is in order." Rex steadily moved forward, completely blowing off the voice. "No, that would be too easy. Lets us instead take a look at your past gouts of fire so to speak." The ash started to pick up. Soon the white substance rised and blinded him again. All he could see was a bright blue light far away from him.

The ash changed in color. He now found himself in a field of dirt and mud. Barbed wire and trenches were all around. Craters littered his surroundings. Bullets flew overhead and tanks rolled past. Dead lay around and blood created puddles. Rex crouched and looked around. This battlefield, where was it? "Oh you should know. This was the first battle for Bollant. Your first command." Rex shook his head

Rex whispered, "Don't Listen to her." To himself and stood. The blue light was still infront of him, so he kept moving. The light got closer.

"Perhaps the horrors of war won't break you, my mistake. We could try having you face the souls of those you killed, but that wouldn't break you either. Maybe...". The scene changed and he found himself in the swirling ash again. He walked forward, only to bump into a wall. The ash dissipated and revealed a small pantry with a door. The light was nowhere to be seen. There was nothing in the closet but booze, so it didn't offer any help to the boy. He walked over to the door and tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. Rex gave a simple kick to it, and it splintered. Perhaps this house was abandoned, though it did look familiar.

"I told you I wanted booze!" A slap rang out, as well as a very familiar voice. They were in the next room, and Rex had no idea how to get there. It seemed as he were in a second pantry, though this one smelled of blood and sweat. It was dark here. The room you were in before wasn't lit either, but Rex didn't even really think about it. His cloak actually worked in here though. He had forgotten he still had it on his head. He left the flashlight on however. Better to be prepared. Back to the voices. They were in the next room so, pushing his luck, Rex kicked the nearest wall. He went right through it like it wasn't even there.

The voice came from here. A adult screaming at a small child. From what he heard the adult had hit the child. The kid confirmed this as he lay on the ground crying. "I stold eyou Rum! I dn't want water!" The man's words were slurred and hard to understand. This was all so familiar, where was it from? "Fffck Rex, whhhy areee you sch a diss a point met."

Rex fell to his knees when it hit him. His rifle clanged on the hard wood next to him. The child was him, and the man was his father. It was one of his first memories of his past life. Back when he couldn't even hold a bottle of Rum because it was too heavy.

The abuse flooded into his mind. The terror and fear blinded him. The screams of drunken rage deafened him. The beatings made him numb to everything. Rex grabbed his head with his head and leaned down. Though Rex tried to stop it, he cried for the first time in a long time. It wasn't loud, he didn't shake, in fact he barely moved. All he did was cry, by this time the horrible man got up and started to beat his younger self. All this did was add to Rex's distress. His sadness threatened to spill over into a full cry, screams and all.

"Eu pese of slhit!" Another slap rang out, accompanied by drunken ranting. Rex weakly picked the weapon he dropped on the ground and aimed it at the drunken man. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to end that miserable creature right then and there, but he couldn't. The rifle dropped and he went back to crying. It was like his world was crumbling around him, the same way it had already a lifetime ago.

"All this pain, it could be avoided." Rex sat up and looked at the man and child. They were frozen in time. The man mid punch and the boy mid cower. "You are powerful, Rex. You alone can hold power over life and death." A hand touched Rex's left shoulder. "You can make him pay ten thousand times over, and collect the debt he owes you." Rex sat up and stared at the scene, tears falling from his face. "All you need to do... is become my servant. Give your body and soul to me, and I'll give you whatever you desire." Rex had been slightly swaying from side to side during this, but he stopped upon hearing her... it's terms. It moved infront of him and looked down at his kneeling form. "Kiss my hand, and give yourself to me. You will not regret it." Rex actually got a chance to look up its face. It was clearly a girl, What with her large bust and smooth facial features. He hair was a full and flowing white. It wasn't quite on par with Weiss though, as splotches were a darker grey like ash. She wore what looked like a white wedding dress, only lacking a veil. Her eyes, however, were the most drawing. They were orange like fire. But that's not all. They looked like they contained a raging inferno, and her eyes reflected it. The eyes shone with a brightness akin to looking at a star.

Rex lifted his left hand close to hers. "There you go Rex. Go on." Her voice had changed, it no longer sounded like a car crash, it was more like a chorus of angels. His hand faltered and stopped halfway to hers. "Come on Rex, almost there." She cooed like a mother watching her child take its first steps. He drew strength from this and moved his left hand closer.

He grabbed the rifle with his right hand and shoved her out of the way with his left. Rex fired a volley of shots in a sweeping motion. Both the man and boy were hit and disappeared in a cloud of ash. Rex let his rifle fall to the side, "You use my deepest trauma as a way to get to me. You tried to bring me down! Fuck you!" Rex turned and faced the woman. "You have no power over me. This is all a lie and I know it." Rex picked up his weapon brought it to bear and fired it at the woman. She too disappeared into ash. "You're not even here! You lie to me and won't even show your face! You fucking coward!" Red wasn't calm or composed. All he saw was red. All he knew was anger. All he felt was rage. She would pay for this. "Show your face!" Rex busted through a wall and back into swirling ash. He saw the light again, but it was now red. Seeing it filled him with more rage and conviction to strangle the woman who brought forth his past. He could barely see through the ash, but it didn't stop him.

A hand grabbed him through the ash and turned him around. He was suddenly face to face with that cursed woman again. And behind her stood an army of useless drunks so large he couldn't see the end of them. She spoke calmly, "This is your last chance, give yourself to me. You can have whatever you'd like." She added the last part with a smile.

Rex was practically foaming at the mouth. With a voice deep enough to shake the cave he screamed, "You'll all die screaming!" Rex used the rifle as a club to bash the woman, and she went up in a cloud of ash.

The drunks stumbled forward, Rex readied himself. With a loud cry, the intoxicated fakes rushed him. Rex cried right back and charged into one.

X

"Sir, are you sure this is the right camp? Did another unit already exterminate these animals?"

"Sure looks that way, doesn't it Gomez? I'll radio command. We should've had first dibs on this op."

"Well, whoever came through here must be a gardener, because that's some fine ass mulch." A colum of PMCs walked through the veritable graveyard. What had recently been a White Fang camp was now a river of blood, fire, bones, and death. There was signs of significant resistance on the poor animals side, but it was like they were fighting an enemy they couldn't see. Bullets lined every tent, vehicle, sandbag, and terrorist. It was almost like they fought each other.

"Sir? Maybe infighting broke out? It would explain how the fight took place from all angles." The team came up upon the one poor teen holding his endtrails and covered in bullet holes. Dismembered heads lay around the fanus in a random order, but there was a absence of bodies. The closer they got to the boy, the more squishy the ground became. About a foot from him the mercs dared not tread any farther, as they could easily sink through the bloody mud and into whatever lay beneath.

"Maybe, but I've never seen any infighting this brutal. No, this was done by something else."

A man farther back gave his opinion, "Grimm Sir?"

The leader shook his head, "While it's true that Grimm kill for sport and leave nothing but carnage in their wake, I've never heard of them leaving this much carnage. Especially against these White Fang boys. They were all armed to the teeth and still got turned to red mush. The way I see it is that a army of bloodthirsty and invisible monsters came through and turned them inside out before they could figure out what was happening." A nearby tent collapsed and went up in flames, causing the men to turn with their rifles facing the sudden noise.

"Bloodthirsty... and invisible." A PMC quietly muttered to himself.

"Sir, permission to scrub the mission?"

The leader stood, "Negative, we still need to check the cave." Murmurs spread through the men. "Quiet, spread out and look for anything important. Meet at the cave mouth in ten mikes. Stay frosty, whatever did this is still out there." The leader looked over to the brutalized fanus. "This is more than even they deserve."

X

Club, shoot, club. Rex kept that pattern up until he ran out of ammo. Afterwards he just clubbed the phantoms with his rifle. Soon even the rifle broke into pieces, and so he resorted to his hands and feet. He would kick and punch at them until they crumbled to ash, and then find another. It was all he could've ever wanted...and it was thanks to her. He should kneel to her. It would make his life better. "What?" He ground to a halt in the middle of a punch. The phantoms continued their assault. One went to punch him, but stopped it's fist right infront of his face. The army of ghostly drunks froze and stared at him. Had he just thought of...kneeling? Surely it was a good ide...wait what? These weren't his thoughts. He would never give up like that. Giving his head a violent shake, Rex looked around at the army of his fathers surrounding him. He realized why the fight was so easy for him even though he was outnumbered. They couldn't hit him. One still had a fist outstretched towards his face. Rex slowly moved his cheek closer to the phantom's knuckle and watched in cold rage as it moved away from him.

It was a lie. A cleverly constructed one, but one nonetheless. And his thoughts of giving up and kneeling to that strange woman? Those were lies too. Rex was about to strike the ghosts around him and get back into the fighting, but before he could he spotted the blue light hidden behind the ghostly father closest to him. He was nearly blinded by it. Taking a calming breath, Rex walked forward and through the the ghostly image of his father. As soon as he passed through it, it crumbled to ash and the rest followed suit. The scene changed back to his old house, but he didn't stop to look for the voices. The light led him to the battlefield, but he didn't duck out of fear of dying. He just walked on. In a seemingly last ditch effort to control Rex, flames rushed down the cave towards him. He looked down into a easy hiding space. It was a crevasse bigger than the first one, and it had way more weapons in it. Taking a breath, he jumped over it and walked towards the wall of flames. They moved ever closer, until he was engulfed, but instead of burning, the flames moved around him. They formed a perfect void large enough for Rex to walk through and not get burnt.

The flames gave out, but before they did the ash was kicked up. Soon he couldn't see anything past his own nose. Rex silently thanked Imperator for the mask, otherwise he would be drowning in the tsunami of ash. It felt like walking through a blizzard. The ash pelted him with the force of a gale and threatened to bury him in it. Rex, however, pushed ever onward. The light his only goal. The ash became furious at his forward progress, and it felt like it was trying to rip Rex's mask from his face.

"You want to resist me! I could have given you anything you wanted! But now you only get death. I'll take that mask and add you to my collection of corpses!" The woman screamed at him through the storm and before he could resist the mask was ripped from his face.

Rex fell face down from the sudden lack of breathable air. The ash choked him, but he wouldn't die here. No, that was reserved for this woman. Rex struggled to rise to his feet. The ash seemingly pushed him down and tried to strangle him. "I won't die here." Rex barely said through mouthfuls of ash. "I refuse to die here!" Rex got louder, and revived his bodies ability to function. With the willpower of a god, Rex stood.

"No...no...STAY DOWN!" The woman screamed in fear.

After standing up straight, Rex said it again, "I refuse to die here," Then with the pride of a entire army he cried, "because YOU HOLD NO CONTROL OVER ME!" With that the ash dissipated. Even the particles in his throat slowly disappeared. He found himself in the tunnel he originally entered. Now farther into the structure and near a large pair of charred wooden doors.

He placed his hands on the doors to push them open.

He rethought it, and instead kicked them open.

X

The PMCs neared the cave entrance, ready to report their findings in the camp. Their commander stood looking away from his men and into the cave. "Well...what's the state of the camp?"

A single man laughed, "Well, Whatever blew through here did a thorough job. There's no life anymore."

Another man spoke up, "Yeah, and whatever group did it didn't lose anyone to these animals. Goes to show you how much better we are then them." The captain was unconvinced by this answer.

"What if the infighting idea is right? Maybe they got into a major argument and this followed." He gestured around at the carnage. "It would certainly explain why only White Fang are dead."

A soldier looked around at the bodies, "But if that was the case, wouldn't there be clumps of them huddled together? Mutinies aren't usually a battle royale like this was." They looked at the camp behind them, "It lookes like everyone here died alone and scared. There were no sides in this fight, it was a deadly game of hot potato."

"What'cha mean Gomez?" A PMC chuckled at the comparison. "How can THAT be deadly." Pretty soon it was a full blown laugh. "Your weird greenhorn."

The recruit was deadly serious, "Look at them." He let his weapon dangle from his sling while he waved his arms in the direction of the camp. "They all died individually. It was like everyone targeted one guy and then switched to another when he died!" The recruit was starting to lose his cool. "I don't like this place! We need to leave!"

The Captain shouted, "Men!" They snapped to face him. "We all have a mission. Get into this cave, bag the data, and tag the commander. That's what we'll do. Fall in! Everyone into the cave with me!" He pointed into the cave and him men obeyed. With a march they walked in. The captain stayed back awhile longer, taking in the massacre.

"Here's hoping whatever did this isn't nearby."

X

The doors gave and flew into the new room. It was spacious, and brightly lit despite lack light sources. It was a circular room made of smooth stone. And it was large enough to house a Atlesian warship with some wiggle room. The strangest part was the throne in the middle of the room. It was made of a black stone, which Rex assumed was obsidian, and had a blazing fire on its seat.

"So, you come into MY house, insult ME with"HIS name", reject MY offer, and then stroll into MY BEDCHAMBER like you own it. You have guts boy. Guts or a lack of a brain." Rex wanted to scream in anger, but he controlled himself. She wanted him to give into his rage, and he'd be dammed if he did. "But your worst mistake, by far..." the fire on the throne went out. Ash was left in its place, but it didn't stay for long. It started swirling around the throne faster and faster until it was obscured. Suddenly, the ash dispersed across the room and fell across it. "...was aiding the brutes outside." Rex refocused on the throne. The woman was now sitting on it, a small tornado of ash spinning on her palm.

"I believe your mistaken, I have no association with them." Her eyes flared with anger.

"Really? You first desecrate my home with your very presence, and now you have the gall to lie! How dare you!" The ash spun out of her hand towards Rex. He simply held up his hand and the ash dissipated.

"You have no control over me. That won't work." Rex took a step closer. "While we're on the subject of people daring, how dare you use my worst memories for your own gain. You should be ashamed. And how dare you assume that I would aid those criminals out there."

She started to chuckle, then erupted into a laughing fit. "You Imperator hosts are all the same annoying boy with nothing better to do then annoy a beautiful woman such as myself. Scram."

Something had been bugging Rex. What was her problem with Imperator? He had never done anything to wrong him. Had he hurt her? "What's your problem with Imperator? What did he do to you?"

She scoffed, "Ask the bastard yourself." With a wave of her hand the air became less oppressive and a shadow appeared in the middle of the room. Imperator immediately appeared out of it.

"Rex! You beat her!" He ran to his heir and gave him a pat on the back. In his rush to congratulate his heir he glossed over the woman. "How did you do it? Where's your mask?"

Rex didn't waste time in getting to the point. He pointed over imperators shoulder. "What did you do to her?" Imperator froze solid. After a second he slowly started to turn around. Upon completing a full 180 he groaned in annoyance.

"Imperator." She greeted

"Hello..Cinis." The newly named Cinis crossed her arms and frowned in annoyance.

After a few seconds of silence, Rex asked, "May I have a formal introduction?"

Imperator sighed, "Cinis, this is Rex. Rex, this is Cinis. Lady of ash...and my ex wife."

"You're both unwelcome here." Cinis spat in disgust. Rex thought about making a marriage joke, but ultimately decided not to.

"Oh yeah? What're you gonna do, kick us out with your illusionary powers?"

"The ash is real!"

"But anyone with enough mental fortitude can make it disappear."

"Either leave or do something!" Cinis shouted at the two.

Imperator stared at Cinis for awhile before turning to Rex, "Kill her."

Rex shrugged, she did try and kill him after all. Rex walked forward and drew his sword. Cinis, however, stayed sitting. She adopted a rather bored look. Placing her hand on her cheek she said, "By all means go ahead. It would be a blessing to die instead of being near him."

Rex walked right up to the throne and decapitated her with one single movement. Upon this she crumbled into ash and blew away. Thinking nothing of it Rex turned to leave, but saw Imperator intently staring at the throne. "What?" Imperator made a circular motion with his finger. Figuring he wanted Rex turn around he did so. What he saw didn't really surprise him as much as it annoyed him. He watched as the last bit of Cinis's right hand formed from ash.

"Boy, you suck." Her face was filled with disappointment and a trace of amusement. "Tell you what, I'll let you 'kill' me. All you have to do..." A flame appeared in her right hand, which she raised to Rex, "Is take my hand." Imperator was immediately at his side.

"No, nonono. He won't do that. Your a manipulative witch. You won't do that? Right?" Rex looked into Cinis's eyes. The orange orbs stared right back.

"What's your angle Cinis? What do you get out of this?"

She smiled, "I get to personally ensure the rest of his life is miserable."

"Hey wait a min-."

Rex's eyes narrowed, "And what do I get, make it worthwhile or else I'll find a way to kill you for bringing those memories back."

"Please just do tha-."

"All my power is yours. All my abilities and knowledge, even my dresses if you roll like that."

"I will not be ignored!" Imperator screamed

"Deal."

Cinis laughed, "Looks like you will."

Imperator begged, "Please! Don't lock me up with her! I'd rather disappear!" But his pleading fell on deaf ears as Rex took Cinis hand. Something rather unexpected happened as he did this however. Both the forms of Imperator and Cinis merged and slammed into him at full speed. The following collision did more than just knock the wind from him, it sent him a few feet backwards and put him on his back.

Rex held his stomach and got into a sitting position, "At least give me some warnings next time. Feels like you just rearranged my internal organs." Rex expected a voice inside his head, but was greeted by silence. Instead he spotted a kneeling figure next to the throne holding their stomach like he was. They were covered in the black cloak Rex had come to expect from Imperator, but it had a diamond shape on the back in a flowing orange not dissimilar to a river of lava. "Imperator?" The figure didn't move. "Cinis?" Once again the figure gave no response. Getting up, he cautiously made his way over to whoever it was. As he got closer he made out the long ash white hair of Cinis, but the cloak of Imperator that it was wearing threw him of to its identity. Upon reaching it he lightly tapped the figure on the shoulder and spoke in a calm and quiet tone, "Hello, who are you?" It suddenly turn its head towards him. She was a girl, what with her feminine features and long hair. But the eyes were strange. They were the same glowing orange as Cinis's eyes. The whites of her eyes were replaced with the orange, making them stand out a bit. The strange part was the black cracks running from the pupil and across to her eyelid. While there were only four black cracks on either one, it cut up the glow of her eyes, giving of a weird segmented flashlight appearance.

"Rex?"

"Who're you."

She thought for a moment before stating, "I've no idea."

Rex gave a light smile, "Good to know. Let's stand you up." He put his hand out for her to grab, and she did. Her hand was soft and pale like ash. Upon standing it occurred to Rex that he might be tall. He stood at the same height as Ozpin(6'6 might I add((Also on the topic of height, why the hell is every one either extremely small or fucking ginormous? That one yuri guy on CVFY is 7 feet tall! And Neo is like 3'10!)). That put her about a half a head shorter than him. Or about the size of a certain Coco Adel. She was covered in the cloak, so he couldn't see what she was wearing.

"Where did you come from?"

She looked up at him, "You...I think."

"Never mind, we'll figure that out later. Where is Imperator and Cinis?"

"Within...me and you?"

"What?"

"Fanus!" A hail of gunfire erupted from the opening in the room. Rex immediately deployed his shield and covered both of them. The attack came from multiple Gunmen. The men in question were SDC mercs, and they were angry. Rex's new friend was, apparently, angrier. She jumped out from the cover and let a conjured a wave of ash that buried the men. As soon as they were stuck under the ash she raised her hand towards the cave roof and black spikes shot up within the ash. The ash then blew away and they were left with a squad of dead impaled mercs. The spikes disappeared, and then they were just left with a bunch of Swiss cheesed bodies.

The girl promptly collapsed

Rex looked at her and placed a hand on his chin.

"I think I'll call you...Ruin."

Now to find a way out of the cave.

**X**

**Well, I finally finished the chapter. Like I said at the beginning the only reason this came so late was me procrastinating. But I did it in the end, so I guess that's something. I'm going to stop saying I'll keep a upload schedule. Also, fun fact, this chapter is 8000 words long. As always I'll try to post soon. With Christmas break coming up it shouldn't take as long as this chapter. Have a good day! Don't die!**


	6. Leader

**Well, I'm going to stop making promises**

**X**

"...and then I said, 'Wrecked em? Darn near killed em!'" Yossif erupted into thunderous laughter at his sisters joke, filling the quiet early morning cafeteria with a sense of joy that was quite contagious. Fae joined in with Yossif and laughed loudly. Luka wore a proud smile on her face. It faded away when she looked at Rex. He was straight faced and staring over her shoulder at something behind her. "Watcha staring at Rex?" She asked, turning around.

"Cardin." Lo and behold, he was sitting a few tables behind them and pulling on a fanus's ears. "I've been trying to figure out how to screw him over, make him our loyal soldier so to speak. No one will question if he shows up to classes with bruising, though it may draw attention if he was at our beck and call. Choices, choices..."

For Fae, this behavior was par for the course with Rex. No matter if he was on a battlefield or in a barracks, he was always looking for a advantage over everyone else. Everyone who wasn't directed allied with him, she meant. The twins, however, had not known him long, so they just sat there and blankly stared.

"What?" The twins questioned in unison.

"Nothing, nothing..." Rex watched as Cardin let go of velvets ears and how she walked away, clearly distressed. "Hey, how would everyone like being a mercenary for a day?"

X

After classes had ended, Fae found herself knocking on team CFVY's door, "Are you sure this is a good idea Rex?"

"Don't sweat it, it'll be fine."

"I still don't have any idea what we're doing." Yossif said.

"Neither do I." Luka concured.

"We are going to offer our services in fixing a problem for a small fee." Rex stated

"We're going to beat up Cardin for money." Fae translated

"Exactly!" Rex confirmed. Just then, the door opened. Velvet stood in it with a questioning look.

"Hey...who are you guys?"

Fae answered, "Sup, were team FLYR. That's Luka..."

"Heya."

"That's Yossif."

"So if I whispered in your fanus ear would your regular ear pick it up? Or would maybe they-ACK?" Luka delivered a quick elbow too his stomach, earning a confused groan.

"He's Rex."

"I hope your doing well."

"And I'm Fae, their leader."

Velvet seemed to take in this info, "Oh cool, did you guys need anything?"

Rex took charge, "Actually yes, is your team in?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'd like to talk with you guys about a sort of job. Can we come in?" Just then Coco walked to the door.

"Who is it... oh hey! Your the kid who beat Yang Xiao Long! What's up?" Rex hadn't noticed it before Coco walked over, but Velvet was wearing pajamas! He wasn't bothered by that though. They weren't indecent by any means, being pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. No, the thing that bothered him was Coco. She was wearing black short shorts and a light brown bra. Yossif's jaw dropped as he took in her body and all its curves. Luka mumbled something about being jealous. Fae smirked and said "Do you have back pain?" And Rex's eyes widened before he quickly got himself under control.

As fate would have it, she only spotted his reaction. "Oh, you like what you see, first year?" She teased while doing a sexy pose. Yossif fell backwards onto the floor. Luka was beyond mumbling and was know completely audible when she stared her extreme jealousy. Fae said "There's no way you don't have back pain." Rex looked straight down and was silent for a moment. After having time to come up with something, he looked up and said, "Is the sky blue?" That got a laugh out of her.

"I'll go put on a shirt, Velvet, let em in!"

Velvet was slightly embarrassed by her partners antics, "I apologize for that, it happens often." That last part was mumbled in annoyance, but was clear. She immediately stepped back and let them through the door.

Fae looked back at Luka, "Pick your brother off the floor." Luka did so, but was mumbling about cup sizes the entire time.

X

Cardin and his team were walking along the outskirts of Beacon Academy, laughing about their most recent victim. His teammate Russel grabbed his shoulder and said, "That rabbit said please! Can you believe that?" He followed this up with a hearty laugh. Cardin, Dove, and Sky followed suit.

"And did you see team RWBY giving us the 'Evil Eye'..." Cardin added, "Those girls don't scare me!"

"Yeah, too bad me and Sky weren't there, or else they'd be in a hospital right now!" Claimed Dove.

"More like the grave, which is the only place for dirty Fanus lovers!" Declared Dove. This prompted another round of laughter from the group. And Russel even wiped a team from his eye. Nothing could go wrong.

"Hey Cardin?" Asked Sky

"Yeah?"

"Who's That?" He pointed over at a tree left of the path they were one. Standing under it was someone, and they'd just lit up a cigar.

"I dunno. Let's see." As they moved closer, the figure flicked the match he used to light up right at the group. Even though it was dusk, there was still enough light to make out who it was.

Rex leaned against the tree, with a cigar in mouth.

They all shared a grin and walked towards him. All the while, Rex slowly lit up with another match. Just before they were within arms reach, he flicked the his second match at Cardin. "You guys step any closer, and you'll significantly reduce your time left alive." His voice held no tone. He didn't even seem angry. The only emotion he showed was indifference, which was scarier than any threat he could give.

Team CRDL all shared a look of understanding, and took a step back. "Good, now what did you jokers want?"

Even though they knew Rex was capable of felling even Yang in a fight, they still started in with their bullying. "We saw you enjoying your stogie. Would be a shame if, say, someone told your mother. Might get you expelled." Cardin stood taller than before. Pride swelled in his chest as he awaited Rex's shocked face. He may be invincible in combat, but Cardin doesn't need to beat him to make him his bitch. He only needs blackmail.

Rex blew smoke at the team. His face was still indifferent, but now his eyes were cold and calculating. He looked like he had every way of killing them running through his head and he was picking the most efficient ways. His eyes stared into Cardin's soul, searching for weaknesses and ways to make his suffer. Rex didn't stand before him, the devil did.

Cardin recoiled slightly. He was going to note that picking on Rex was impossible and he should never try again.

Rex smiled, all while maintaining that air if indifference, "If you were to do that, your surroundings could get very lethal, very quickly."

In a quick attempt to save his pride Cardin added, "Was that a thREat Rex?" His attempt failed even before he could fully finish it though. The voice crack only solidified that.

Rex pulled his cigar out of his mouth, "No, only an observation. Have a good rest of your evening Cardin." Team CRDL didn't know what was so off putting about that last statement. Perhaps it was the way he delivered it, that is, without any hint of emotion. It might've been because they had tried to blackmail him, but he still wished them well. Perhaps they simply caught a chill. Whatever the case was, it wasn't going to happen again.

Team CRDL, with their pride only slightly damaged, looked down the path they were walking along. They hoped it would take them back to their dorm, but something better happened. They saw a Fanus not to far away. It had its back turned to them and was squatting in the dirt below a tree and poking into a bush. It was a rabbit fanus, ripe for the picking. The boy's shared a quiet predatory chuckle, and then tip toed towards the animal. Russel took the lead and stood right behind the unlucky Fanus, "Hey animal!" He grabbed one of the bunnies ears and gave a small yank.

To everyone's surprise, the ear came off. Actually, the ears came off. Along with a head band. Before anyone could recognize the trick, the now revealed Fae struck. She quickly whipped around and used her arm to swipe him off his feet. Finishing it off she quickly put him in a headlock and grabbed his thumb. After yanking his hand behind his back and putting pressure on his thumb, Russel was decommissioned.

Two more figures came out of the tree and bush respectively. One rushed Dove, the other rushed lark. Both gave a quick punch to knock their target down, and then put them in the same pin their leader did. The twins had taken down the rest of Cardin's team.

"You bitches!" Cardin was about to run towards them, until he realized something. There was only three of them. Teams are made of four people. That means another person was waiting to attack him! He backed up, no one would get the drop on him.

Clap, clap, clap. A slow clap came from behind him, followed be Rex's voice, "Bravo, bravo! That was textbook!" Cardin turned to face him, and was suprised by his gleeful face.

Quickly turning around, he counted the people holding his team on his finger, "One, two, three..." he turned around once more and stared at Rex. "...Four, shit." His shoulders slumped.

"Now, how will I do this?" Rex asked aloud. Cardin was having none of it however, and bolted for the school. He would have to leave his team behind, but that wasn't high on his "things he cares about" list at the moment. About two steps into his run Fae tripped him from her place on the ground.

Now with a face full of dirt, Cardin tried to get back up. He was stopped by a foot stepping on his back. "Ah, ah, ah, your not leaving." Now Cardin was once again terrified of Rex, because he was now saying everything with an almost child like amount of glee. Compared to thirty seconds ago, this was a new person.

Cardin felt Rex grab him by the ankle and lift. Soon he was dangling upside down over the side of the Beacon plateau. And he was being held entirely with one arm.

"Ahhhhh, someone help!" At this point, Cardin would even take a Fanus rescuer. Anyone other than this psycho.

"Awwww, that's cute. You think someone will save you? Even if anyone could hear you, who would come? Your at my mercy now. But if you think screaming will help, you can do so..." Rex took the cigar out of his mouth, "I'll even help you!" Rex pushed the burning tip against the base of his neck

"AHHHHHHH!" Cardin didn't care who you were, getting burned hurt, even with aura. "What do you want! Money! I'll give you some..." he felt Rex's grip loosen a bit, "...All of my money!"

"I don't want your money, though I will take some. No, what I want is you for business."

"I...what?" What did he mean business? Cardin didn't own a store.

"Simple, I want you to work for me. You'll follow my orders to a point. When I say jump, you jump. When I tell you to fuck someone up, you fuck em up regardless of who they are. But most importantly, you'll only screw with people when I say. If I didn't order it, you don't do it. If you do..." Rex made a line across his neck with his free thumb, "You get the idea." His happy go lucky face made no sense when he threatened Cardin. And work for anyone? Bah, Cardin would rather die

"Hah, you think..."

"Cardin my friend, before you answer, look down. That fall won't kill you, but you won't walk for a long time. And if you land wrong, you may even become a cripple forever. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?" His face was still beaming with happiness, as well as his voice, but his eyes. They were cold and filled with nothing but fire and terror. His eyes promised that they would choke the life from his soul and leave him a lifeless husk. They promised nothing but Ruin

Cardin was suddenly very scared of ash. But he was even more scared by Rex and his eyes.

"AHHHH, put me down!"

"Oh, be careful of what you wish." Rex quickly dropped and grabbed Cardin with his other hand. That was enough to convince Cardin that Rex was not bluffing about dropping him.

"OK, OK, I'll work for you, JUST PUT ME DOWN ON LAND!"

Rex smiled happily, "Excellent." Rex through Cardin behind him and into a tree. "Now, how much money does your team make a month. I'm talking sent by parent, made with side jobs, drug deals. Anything."

Cardin rolled onto his back, "I get sixty from my parents, Lark gets...ahhhh...thirty from a weekend job. Russel doesn't get anything. And Dove steals money from whoever he can."

Rex thought for a moment, "Hmm, I want sixty Lien a month, you can keep the rest for now. And remember, you step a centimeter out of line, and you will immediately regret it. Believe it or not," Rex squated down so he was face to face with Cardin, "I can be much scarier than this." With that, Rex stood. His team followed suit. And they all left Cardin and his team groaning in pain.

X

Team FLYR entered their dorm room and sought out their beds. Rex's first order of business was taking off his boots. So he sat on the edge of his bed and started. As soon as he finished unlacing his right boot, Fae tapped his shoulder.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Who is the leader of this team?" Rex could detect sass, and a whole lot of it coming his way.

"You."

"Really? Because I haven't been doing much leading."

"So, lead."

"Oh really? So I can just lead even though the twins will only follow you?"

"That's not true, they will follow you."

She didn't like that. "Bullshit! The only person they'll follow is you!"

"They'll follow whichever of us is leading. You just need to take charge."

"Are you kidding me? They call you Boss! They disregard whatever I say for your words! You just decided to sell our team as mercs, that was something I should have decided as leader! And when I voiced my concerns they blew me off in favor of following you!"

Rex stood. He wouldn't tolerate someone insulting his team, even if that someone was his leader. "Why are we even bringing them into this? This is between us!"

"We're bringing them in because they need to follow me if I'm leader! And you do too! If you guys won't follow me then your shit teammates!"

Now Rex tried to always stay calm, because you need a level head in order to do anything under pressure. There was only two times in which he ever lost his head,(three if you can count internally screaming when people lack common sense) during combat, and when his brothers were being insulted. "Well maybe if you had ACTUAL leadership ability they would follow you and not me!"

"I have ability!" The twins, who had been listening since the beginning of the argument, looked at each other. Through sheer telepathic ability only seen between siblings, they decided on how to break this up.

Rex was close to boiling over. Fae might've been his long time friend, but that's why he had tried to be in control of the team. She was never a leader. A good gunner, radio operator, and spotter, but not a leader. Unless she had suddenly gotten very good at being a quick learner and had taken notes on everything he had ever done, she was no where near being an efficient leader. "Ability? Where? Because you haven't taken charge once. You've sat and done nothing. Your a good follower, but I'd rather follow a civilian than you! At least they might have enough drive to take command!"

Rex was a very hansy talker. He used his hands to emphasize when talking. He knew this usually made others uncomfortable when arguing, especially when he got in their face with it. So, he unconsciously did it with Fae. This sometimes leads to altercations between the other party and him. However...

THWAP

He didn't expect Fae to punch him.

Luka immediately stepped in and separated Rex and Fae "Mom! Dad! Stop fighting!"

Yossif stepped in next to her and held Rex by the shoulders to keep him from rushing Fae, "Heh, thats a bit fucked up seeing as she just assaulted him. We should probably time our jokes better, eh Luka?"

"You guys are our teammates! You can't fight! If you wanted us to follow you more closely you could have took it up with us!"

Yossif looked over his shoulder at a still seething Fae "Yeah, and you didn't need to punch the guy. He was just..." Yossif felt a hand grab his shoulder and squeeze. He turned back to Rex. He was staring straight at the ground and had his left hand on his chin from the punch. With very slow and deliberate movements and without moving his hand, Rex leaned to the side.

Fae watched as he slowly looked up at him. His eyes had changed from blue to bright orange. The inside almost moved like flames. Other than that, his face was completely indifferent. It was almost scary, scratch that, it was terrifying. She couldn't show weakness though, or else he would pour on the look and take the position of leader from her.

Rex was burning on all cylinders, but he had to remain calm, or else she'd think she was hot shit. With a monotone voice and no emotion on his face, Rex said, "You want to lead, fine. Lead. I won't make any choices for the team. I won't do anything to compromise your own decision making ability. Matter of fact, I'm not going to speak to you for a week so you can really get the whole experience." With that, Rex took his hand from his chin and sat on his bed. He started to unlace his other boot and get some sweats to sleep in. "Yossif, Luka, disregard any order I give, no matter how little or big. I'm not the leader." With that, Rex got ready for bed.

Fae was about to storm over and punch him a second time when there was a knock at the door. Sighing loudly, she walked to the door, leaving the twins standing in the middle of the room and very on edge. Fae opened the door revealing Coco and Velvet, both in pajama bottoms and shirts. "Oh, hey. What do you want?" Fae didn't mean to come off as cold, but it was hard with what had just transpired.

"What's with the cold shoulder girl?" Coco replied with a entertained tone. "We just came over to ask how dealing with Cardin had gone. I also wanted to ask you guys when you wanted your 200 Lien. Where's Rex? He might want to hear this." She scanned the room for the man in question, and wasn't at all disappointed when she found him. "Woah woah woah, hey there good looking." Coco developed a small red tint and put a hand under her chin. She moved Velvets head with her free hand so she could also bask in Rex's majesty. Velvet went a far darker shade of crimson. Rex was hot. He had a athletic build. His muscles on his arms were large, but not quite body builder size. His legs weren't body builder size either, but they were toned and looked like he never skipped leg day. His chest was beautiful. He had a barely visible six pack, but it looked like he was only one sit up away from it becoming the most breathtaking thing ever. His chest itself looked rock hard.

Just who was this first year?

Coco called out, "So is this how you felt when you saw me?"

This caught Rex's attention. He finished putting on sweats and made his way over shirtless, and Coco couldn't complain.

In a calm and smooth tone he replied. "Hello, how is your night Coco, Velvet?"

Velvet quickly placed her hands over her eyes, but left them slightly open so she could still see Rex(an action she thoroughly denied upon being questioned by Coco later). She spoke softly and quickly, "I've are-am! Good. You've no shir...!" Coco quickly placed her hands over Velvets mouth, but the damage was already done. Rex noticed his state.

"Oh, I apologize. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. Why don't you talk to Fae about our payment. She IS the boss, after all."

Fae glared at Rex for that childish remark. She honestly couldn't believe he'd be so immature. "Am I missing something?" Coco inquired.

"No no, it's nothing. What did you want?"

Coco definitely didn't believe her, but didn't press any further. "What's the story with Cardin?"

Fae couldn't help but smile, team CRDL was HERS to command now. "They're Out of the picture."

"Did ya kill them?"

"What? No! Of course not!"

"Just checking." Kill them? Was she serious? How would they benefit from killing them? "And when do you want your money?"

"Uh, by the end of the week. Wherever is good."

"Alright, that takes care of it. I'll see you later Fae. Rex!" Rex, who had laid on his bed, lifted up his head so he could get a good look at the two girls. "Stay hot."

"You too sexy." Coco laughed a bit, Velvet blushed a bit. With that they both left. Fae closed the door and turned around.

"Whew, that was easy. Being a leader isn't so hard after all."

Rex chuckled, and with that said something so quiet only he could hear it. "Were it so easy." Rex leaned back, closed his eyes, and let sleep take him.

**X**

**Man, procrastination is a bitch. Sorry for the long, long, LONG wait. I hope it was slightly worth it. If it wasn't, I apologize. I'll try to make the next chapter longer and better. Anyway, have a good day! Don't die!!!**


	7. Remus

**Now for the news with your favorite anchor, Imperator! Our first story tonight, Corona has rocked the world! Our second story, the US is on fire! And special at 11, never before seen pictures of Neo's voice actor! All that and more, starting in a few moments. What? He's back? No... I've just received a breaking news report! It appears that the author is back! And he may even have his shit together too!**

* * *

Fae groaned as the alarm went off. She slammed the alarm clock with her fist and stood up. She didn't sleep well. It also didn't help that the twins snored in their sleep. She'd have to get them to stop somehow. Maybe she'd ask Rex for... wait a minute! She was the leader now! She could just tell the twins to fix themselves! She was so gonna rub this in Rex's face.

Fae looked over at his bed, and was immediately disappointed. Rex had disappeared. She shouldn't be surprised, it was a daily thing with him. He was off to ask the Headmaster something she guessed. Perhaps it was time to order him to stay put in the morning.

Fae was going to love her new power.

The alarm went off again, apparently she had hit snooze. With a mighty fist, she slammed the clock again. The impact created a crack down the alarms middle

...but no amount of power would make her like mornings.

-X-

"Imperator is gone? And this...Ruin...has taken his place? Are you ok with this?" Said Ozpin.

"Yes sir, I believe she is a better fit than him as she hasn't tried to replace my body parts with her own 'gifts'." Replied Rex.

"I'm right here." Ruin chimed in.

"I hope your able to use her powers to the best of your abilities."

"Yes sir, I'll try sir."

"Hello? Right here. Sitting next to Rex." Ruin was getting mad, but no one else realized.

"And see if you can make up with Fae."

"I...how...when?"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" That shook the room. Ruin was more scary then she looked.

"I'm certainly not ignoring you, Ms.Ruin, I was only speaking to Rex. Now that I am done doing that, how are you? Are you adjusting to your new found sentience?" Ozpin seemed completely unfazed by Ruin's sudden outburst. Though, if Rex was to guess, he had probably expected something like this. He did know both Imperator and Cinis. Them together must be like a powder keg waiting to go off. But the thing about powder kegs is, if you can master them, you gotta lotta power you can use. Though Rex had to remind himself that Ruin wasn't a weapon to be used. She was now a part off him, and that meant he had to work together with her if he ever wanted to do anything.

"Oh, well..." Ruin was taken aback. She had clearly not expected such a well thought out reply, "I'm good so far, I guess."

Ozpin tilted his head to the left slightly, "You guess?"

"Why do you even care? It's not like I work for you." Ruin sat back in her chair and put a hand under her chin.

"Well, Rex works for me so, by extension, you do too. And I take care of my employees. What's wrong?"

"I...well...it feels weird, living inside someone's head."

Rex chuckled, "Surely my mind isn't in such a state of disrepair that you are pained to be a part of me."

"Shut it. No, your mind is fine. But the feeling of being apart of another being is strange. And being apart of it right after gaining consciousness is even worse."

Ozpin sat back in his chair and put a hand under his chin, "So you weren't a being before this event occurred?"

Ruin shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah. Them coming together created me."

"Wait, so the child of Imperator and Cinis is living in me?"

Ruin's face curled into a frown, "I'm not their child, just their byproduct. Their combining brought me into the world. I even share some of their traits."

"That's exactly what a child is." Rex deadpanned.

"Shush!" Ruin slapped a hand over his mouth, much to his protest.

Ozpin laughed and took a sip from his cup, "Well, you should both get moving. If I'm not mistaken, your first period is with Rex's mother in combat class. You wouldn't want to be late."

"Oh, thank you Ozpin." Rex lifted his sword from his hilt and waited. Ruin slowly started to turn into ash and fly towards the open blade. Pretty soon the black blade had turned a bone white. "We'll be off now."

Ruin's voice came from the blade, "You mean that you'll go and I'll just tag along." Both Ozpin and Rex were caught off guard. "Wait, can you hear me?"

Rex slowly brought the blade to his face, "Aye. Were you badmouthing me in there before this?"

"I-no. Absolutely not."

"Hmm, sure." With that Rex sheathed his blade and exited the room, leaving Ozpin to his thoughts.

-X-

Fae entered the combat class classroom just on time. It was funny how team RWBY and JNPR were still racing to the door when her team got to it. They entered the room just as the bell rang. They then sat and watched as RWBY and JNPR were chewed out by Ms. Goodwitch. Though Fae felt sorry for them, she couldn't help but laugh with the rest of the class. Goodwitch was quick to silence them.

With that, class started.

While Ms. Goodwitch was lecturing, Fae noticed something. Rex wasn't there. She looked left, and then right, and then left again, but Rex was nowhere to be seen. "I know he was mad, but being so childish as to not show up to class is strange." Fae whispered to herself.

Yossif looked over at her, "What?"

Luka copied her brother's movements, "Yeah, don't go insane on us here Fae."

Fae should've expected that they would hear her, she was sitting between them. "Oh, nothing. I was just wondering where Rex was."

Yossif laughed, "Yeah, you made him real mad. Didn't know he'd skip because of it though."

Luka leaned back in her chair, "Yeah, that's a bit of an overreaction."

Fae put a hand under her chin, "Yeah, that's what I thought." They all re-directed their attention towards Ms. Goodwitch and resumed listening. It went on like that for a minute as they kinda took in her lesson. That stopped when they realized that team RWBY was slowly scooting over to them. After a few seconds they made it over.

"Where's Rex?" Said a slightly concerned looking Ruby.

Fae shrugged, "Don't know. How about you guys? Have you seen him?"

Yang shook her head, "No, not recently. He might've been a kidnapping victim."

"What?" Said Fae, Luka, and Yossif in unison.

"Yeah," Continued Yang, "He might've fell over the kid napping in the hall!" A chorus of groans could be heard from both teams and anyone within earshot. Yang sat there with a proud look as everyone shook their heads.

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose, "In all seriousness, no, we haven't seen him. Sorry."

Fae held her head in her hands, still recovering from Yang's joke. "No, it's fine."

"Do you know where he could've gone?"

"Nope."

"Do you know why he left?"

Fae pulled her head out of her hands and stared at Blake with a unamused look on her face, "Yep. We had a bit of an argument."

"Ms. Norden! Ms. Belladonna!" Yelled Ms. Goodwitch. Fae shot straight up and stood at attention, earning a chuckle from a few students. Blake chose to just look at her. "Are you both done?"

Blake and Fae both said, "Yes Ma'am," in unity.

"Hmm, Ms. Norden, where is Mr...Goodwitch." She seemed concerned when she called Rex by his last name. You'd think you'd get used to it when your a mother, but apparently not.

Fae chose to ignore that though, "I don't know Ma'am." Just then, the door to the class opened. Two people stood in the doorway.

Cardin and Rex

-X-

Rex knew that Cardin would eventually go back to being a bully behind his back. What he didn't expect was that it would happen the day after he told him not to. So imagine Rex's surprise when he saw Cardin picking on a fanus on the way to class. Rex looked at Cardin's back and contemplated giving him a Stern talking to. If he did, he would be even more late than he already is. But Cardin is in his class, so his "mother" may be lenient in her punishment if Rex came back with him in tow.

Putting on a smile, Rex walked towards Cardin.

As he made his way over, he inspected Cardin's victim. A female bunny fanus. Thankfully it wasn't Velvet, as it would be hard to explain to her team why she was still being picked on. No, Cardin chose another poor girl. Rex had to give him props though, he had chosen someone he had never met. She was also smaller than him in every way. Rex could tell that Cardin had seeked her out on purpose. From his own personal experience, he knew that you wanted the person your fighting/bulling to be smaller than you in every reguard. That would cement you as the dominant force in the victim's mind, and make bending them however you'd like much easier. No one will fight if they know that it won't change anything. And as long as no unforeseen variables are thrown in, Cardin will remain in complete control of the conversation.

Good thing Rex liked being the unforeseen variable.

Rex threw his right arm around Cardin's shoulder, "Hey Cardin, good morning this good morning!" Rex said in an excited tone, devoid of anything but a carefully crafted false joy. Cardin froze half way through yanking the girl's bunny ear. He slowly released her and lowered his hand.

"Good...morning. How are you?" Cardin's voice was practically silent. Rex could feel the fear coming off him. He wondered how it looked from the girls point of view, Cardin's fear and Rex's false happiness.

"Good good." Rex turned his head to look at the girl, "So who is this? Did you make a new friend? A bit of advise, you usually keep friends longer when you don't pull on their ears.

"I'll...take your advise."

"Good good,_" _Rex slowly turned his back to Cardin and spoke in his coldest tone, _"I only offer it for free once." _Cardin stood up straighter then Rex had ever seen to avoid his gaze. The fear on his face was that of a man about to be tortured, which wasn't far from the truth. But that would have to wait. "Now," Rex transitioned back into his happy voice and face as he turned to the girl. "What's your name?"

The bunny girl(Who was still standing arms distance from Cardin, which amazed Rex)shifted slightly. She was clearly distressed. "...cy"

She was far to quiet to hear, "Hmm? What was that?"

"Lucy, Lucy Ken." Lucy Ken was a snow bunny fanus with white eyes, white hair and white skin. Even her school uniform was, for the most part, white. She had a very shy energy about her. Her head was looking down slightly, her knees were together, and her arms were crossed over her small chest.

"Lucy, Lucy. I apologize for my friend here," Rex placed his free hand on her head and ruffled her hair a bit, "He can be very forward when trying to make a new friend. Isn't that right bro?"

"I...yes." Cardin was defeated, and Rex was in total control of the situation.

"Well, it's been nice to meet you, Lucy. Perhaps we'll meet under better circumstances next time. For now, we should all get going, class is in after all."

Lucy turned a shade of red when she heard this, clearly embarrassed by her mistake of not getting to class. With a simple nod, she turned and bolted down the corridor. This left a quite distressed Cardin and a annoyed Rex.

Still masquerading as happy go lucky, Rex turned both of them towards the combat class and started walking. All without taking his hand from Cardin's shoulder.

Cardin looked at Rex with an expression of terror, "Rex I fucked up. I'm sorr-.

Rex waved his free hand in the air, "Don't worry about it. We're cool, he's cool, she's cool, they're cool, everyone's cool." Rex still hadn't dropped his happy tone. "But, know this my friend," Rex dropped everything, his tone was no longer happy, his face showed only cold rage, his eyes pierced Cardin's very soul. "_I only give second chances, no more. And you are all out of chances." _But just as fast as it went, his sunny disposition returned. "Ok Cardin? I would hate it if any painful accidents befell my friend, got it?" Cardin vigorously nodded. And with that they walked to class in silence. Rex smiling, and Cardin terrified.

When they reached the door, Rex stopped. Some people were being chewed out by his "Mom." Seeing those as a great opportunity to sneak in unnoticed, Rex turned to Cardin. "Go ahead and open that door Cardin. We're late." Cardin quickly did as asked. The door opened just as Ms. Goodwitch stopped chewing out two people. The entire room turned to face them, including the two unfortunate souls. Those souls were revealed to be.

Blake and Fae.

Glynda smiled and tapped her scroll, "You four will go first."

-X-

* * *

The four of them stood in the arena. Rex across from Fae, and Cardin across from Blake. Ms. Goodwitch tapped her scroll lightly. "Sometimes you will find yourself without your own team. In those scenarios, it would be a good idea to momentarily join with another team. This drill will give you a small amount of practice in working with other hunters." She looked up from her scroll. "The rules are simple, knock out the other team..." Rex smiled, this would be easy. He would get to show Cardin just who he was, and get back at Fae for last night. "But," Continued Glynda, "If your team mate is eliminated, you both lose." Rex looked at Cardin. Fae looked at Blake. That definitely made things more interesting. Rex would still get his chance at Fae though, so it didn't matter. "That being said, are you all ready?" Cardin nodded, Blake bent her knees a bit, but Fae and Rex just stared at each other and drew their respective weapons. Rex his gladius styled sword, and Fae her chainsaw. This would be a great fight.

-X-

* * *

"Alright. Go!" Rex and Fae clashed like titans of war, and Yossif immediately realized that this was basically just a one on one fight with four members. Fae and Rex were not happy with each other, so they would only target each other. There would be no help between team members here. It was just a battle of which team had the weaker link.

That being said, the fight wouldn't be boring. Well, Fae and Rex's fight wouldn't be. Blake and Cardin were barely even visible to anyone watch, as Rex and Fae sucked up all the attention. The clashing of Fae's chainsaw and Rex's blade produced enough sparks to light up the arena.

"Hey Yossif?" Asked Luka

"Yeah?"

"Who do you think is angrier?"

He laughed, "I think they're tied for rage." He observed every move the fighters made. Where Blake and Cardin had a rather mellow go at each other, he could tell Blake was winning. With Fae and Rex though? He wasn't even sure if a omnipotent being could figure out who's winning. When Rex jabbed at her with his gladius, she'd block it with her saw. And when she slashed at him, he'd parry the strike and push her back for breathing room. Saying that they were evenly matched was a bit of an understatement. No, they were unstoppable forces, and he didn't see any immovable objects getting in their way. How he saw it, there was only two ways this fight would go. One would be a miracle stopping them, or two, Beacon would be the site of the only true "man made" nuclear detonation.

-X-

* * *

Ozpin sat in his office and debated his choices for tackling this situation. He could send a team of teachers to retrieve it, but that would leave him understaffed. Perhaps he should send fourth years, no, too dangerous. Maybe he should call upon James, but that would indebt him to Atlas and potentially deliver a super weapon to them.

"There's a clear answer that you're missing Ozma." A black haze floated from the elevator to his desk. A black robed figure with bright red eyes manifested in front of him. It was completely devoid of any features and emitted a cold black haze.

"My name is Ozpin."

"It matters little what name you pin on, my statement still stands."

Ozpin put down the papers he'd been staring at and leaned back in his chair. "Oh really? Enlighten me Remus, who have I not considered?"

Remus chuckled, "The Soldier of One Thousand Campains. The Great Destroyer. The Avatar of Chaos. The Man of Blood."

Ozpin mumbled to himself, "The Soldier of...?" He mulled over the words in his head. What was he on about?

Remus sat down across from Ozpin, "What do you know of the Romans Ozma?"

Though Remus messed up his name again, Ozpin paid it no mind. "They were an ancient civilization that lived where present day Vale is. Why does that matter?"

"There were three periods for the Romans, the Empire, the Republic, and the Monarchy. Do you know the word for a Roman King?" Ozpin shook his head. Remus let out an off putting laugh. "They called kings, Rex. And you have a King in your employ. The King of the Dead."

Ozpin recoiled in annoyance, "You'd have me send a child to do something a fully trained team of hunters couldn't?"

"You and I both know he's not a child."

"Nonsense! He is a student at beacon, and I will not put him at risk."

Remus chuckled, "Student? You hired him. He is your employee, nay, your own mercenary. You acquired him to take care of problems, and a problem has occurred. Why are you so opposed to utilizing him?"

Ozpin narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the phantom, "Why are you so insistent that I use him?"

Remus held his hand over Ozpin's desk and let black mist fall down onto its surface. Slowly, the mist enveloped all of Ozpin's papers and books. Eventually the mist ran out of desk space, and so it started piling on top of itself. After about an inch and a half of upward progress, the mist stopped pouring from Remus's hand. The spectre waved it's robed hand, and the black mist started to change. Where it used to be a sea of black, it was now a battlefield of shadow. Trenches and razor wire lay about. Holes were carved into the earth by explosions. Bodies lay everywhere, and were even gathered into mounds in some places. And, as if it were the cherry on top, a single flaming tank sat in the middle of it all.

Ozpin sat confused. It was a cool party trick to be sure, but he had no idea what Remus was getting at. "I hope you can clean that up."

"I surely can, but I did not mean for this to be an elaborate way to dirty your dusty volumes of lore. What do you know of Rex?"

"He is part of team FLYR, and a student of Beacon Academy."

Remus once again waved his hand. The mist started to move. It almost looked like the wind was blowing on the small battleground. "No. I was wondering what you knew of his origins. Tell me you at least realize he's not from Remnant."

Ozpin stared at the mist on his desk, "Yes, I have. Though I can't say all my knowledge about him is from me working it out. He told me about a considerable portion of his childhood." Soldiers appeared on one side of the misty war zone and walked forward. Ozpin watched as they marched towards him, and then watched as they disappeared on his side of the table.

"Rex is no mere child, as I've previously stated. He is as well trained as every elite warrior this planet has ever conceived. He's as cunning and resourceful as a this entire academy. And to top it all off, he has killed more people than every war in our entire history has." Ozpin watched as a man slid out of a pile of bodies. The lone soldier grabbed a rifle from the clutches of a body and crawled his way into a trench.

Ozpin shook his head, "To kill more than every war has, how far are you going to exaggerate his feats? Regardless of how good they are, no human can possibly live long enough to amass those types of numbers."

Remus stared at the trench the lone soldier had entered, "No human could, for sure, but a super human? That definitely seems like something they could do. And Rex is nothing short of super human."

"And how can you back up these claims?"

"I can't, but he can." Remus pointes at the trench with the lone soldier in it. A few seconds later, four heavily armed and armored juggernauts appeared at the edge of the scene and walked towards the trench. Something was thrown into the air from the trench. Before the men could react, the lone soldier popped up from his hiding spot and opened fire.

The bullets did nothing to the walking tanks, but they did step back. The thrown item landed just a foot away from the middle of the four. Before they knew what hit them, they were incinerated by a rather high yield explosive.

The lone man nodded at his handywork, got out of the trench, and slinked off towards the way the juggernauts came from.

-X-

* * *

Rex and Fae once again clashed. Rex outclassed her in speed, but his weapons had short blades that were meant for close and personal combat. Fae had a god damn chainsaw. Glazing over how it was a weapon made of spinning knifes, her saw held and advantage over him. Anytime he got close, she could just swing, and he had to either jump back or risk loosing his head. Naturally, this made the fight a bit long. Any hit would only be glancing, so they had barely even touched their aura reserves. But even with this strike and reteat strategy, they were a treat to watch. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as the sparks leapt from their blades. If this was all they could do, the fight would surely end in a stalemate...

But Rex wouldn't submit himself to that kind of humiliation. No, he'd show this upstart just who she was attacking. He would show her what happens when she questions her superiors...

-X-

Fae concentrated on Rex's gladius. She knew that he had the advantage of speed, and he would use that advantage until it was exhausted. But she realized something as the sparks flew...

He was getting faster.

-X-

* * *

...How DARE she even step to him. He was the finest soldier that had ever existed! He was the weapon that could pierce any bulwark! He was the army that could conquer any planet! He was death incarnate. And he was unstoppable!

Rex was working himself into a bloody rage. With every clash of metal and flash of sparks Rex got angrier. And as he got angrier, he lost Sense of himself. The cold gaze and empty face he stepped into the arena with was gone, and what replaced it was nothing but insanity. His eyes no longer tracked Fae, they instead darted to her, then to the crowd, then to a single tooth of her saw, and then repeat. His head twitched now and again. And his lips curled into a sadistic smile.

Rex closed in and stabbed at Fae. She easily countered this attack and shoved him back a few feet. This proved to be the past push needed to destroy any restraint he still had. As soon as Rex regained his footing, he did something that shocked the entire audience.

He threw his sword at Fae.

Now, this wouldn't usually be a cause for concern, but Rex hadn't really thrown it...cleanly. A great way to describe what he did was to say that he "Chucked it" at her. The audience watched as the thrown weapon sailed right past Fae's chainsaw and collided, hilt first, with her chest.

-X-

* * *

Fae coughed and stumbled back. He threw his sword? Why did he throw his sword? Before she could think up any answer, the universe delivered her one in the form of a berserking Rex lunging at her with his wristblades extended. She tried, and failed, to dodge the sharp blades. And she failed to dodge every other attack he threw at her.

Sure, he was in perfect range for her chainsaw, but whatever he didn't block he didn't react to. No hit she landed on him seemed to hurt him. But she felt everything he landed on her, and with Rex showing no sign of tiring or weakening, she was toast. She shoved Rex away from her and braced for a loss. Rex once again leaped at her.

"The match is over, Blake and Fae win." Called Ms. Goodwitch. She then encased Rex in a solid bubble of air, stopping him mid jump. She...won? What?

Ruby shouted from her spot in the audience, "Good job Guys!" Oh yeah, she was on a team with Blake. To be honest, she had kinda forgotten.

"I'm disappointed in you four. The point of this exercise was to practice teamwork between hunters outside of your teams, and yet I saw no teamwork. If we had more time I would have you all do it again. But the period is about to-." She was cut off by a rather loud crack. Everyone looked to the source of the sound. Rex had started attacking his impromptu prison in an attempt to get at Fae. His strikes created spiderweb cracks throughout Ms. Goodwitch's semblance. His face held a look of desperation, like a starving wolf trying to take down a deer. Fae was a bit disturbed by this, hell, she was disturbed by the entire fight. She had never seen this side of him before. He was always at least somewhat composed. But now he was nothing but a maniac nearly frothing at the mouth. But before Fae could really wrap her head around his Rex's erratic behavior, Ms. Goodwitch repaired the bubble and caused it to go from translucent to black. "Class dismissed." Fae quickly exited the room, hoping to wrap her head around what just happened.

But as she left, all she heard was Rex pounding away at his prison.

-X-

* * *

Ozpin stared intently at the prison Glynda had manufactured for Rex. Every few second a loud crack would emanate from it, accompanied by the exterior nearly shattering.

"It's been thirty minutes and he still hasn't calmed down." Glynda said tiredly, "If anything, he's getting stronger." She gave a flick of her riding crop and the bubble was repaired. "Do you have any suggestions Headmaster?"

Ozpin shrugged, "Perhaps you should aquire better parenting skills, he is your son after all."

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Now isn't the time for jokes."

"Yes Ozma, this isn't a time for recklessness. You have a caged demon in the room."

Glynda turned towards the room's door, "Ozma? How do you-." She couldn't finish her sentence before her jaw dropped to the floor. "Y-you! Where did you come from?" Glynda backed away in terror at the spectre floating at her.

"Oh don't be silly Glynda, I know much more than just his real name. I am the third oldest thing alive. Well...alive might be a stretch."

Ozpin chuckled a bit, "I was going to say that."

While this little exchange happened, Rex had continued to assault his prison. Now that Glynda wasn't paying attention, that beating had consequences. With one monumental strike, the prison shattered. And from that prison scrambled out a very quiet Rex

Glynda turned around to look at her "Son". He wasn't twitching or smiling like he was earlier. He just stood very still and looked in her direction. The room was eerily silent. They could probably hear an ant crawl along the floor. It went on like that for minutes. Ozpin looked on with interest, Glynda put on an authoritative scowl, and Remus just floated behind her.

Glynda had enough of waiting. She went to point her crop at Rex so she could address him, but the movement must've set him off, because as soon as she moved he bolted towards her.

Glynda felt that she could take him down, but she wasn't prepared for the speed at which he rushed her. Rex was almost in striking distance before she could even bring her crop up in defence. Fortunately, Rex stopped short of her. And while she was thankful for that, she was confused as to why. She didn't have to guess for long though.

"Rex, Rex, Rex, I knew you where special, but I would've never guessed that you were this special." Remus floated from behind Glynda and towards Rex. She watched as Remus circled Rex. "Tell me Ozma-"

"Ozpin."

"Yes yes, tell me 'Ozpin', will you send Rex on that mission?" Remus stopped right behind Rex. It's red eyes were focused on Ozpin, but Glynda still felt a chill while looking at them.

"I'll ask you again, why are you so insistent that he go?"

Remus chuckled a bit, "Well, I wish to truly meet my own blood."

Glynda stepped back in shock, Ozpin very calmly asked, "What?"

Remus placed a hand on Rex's hood, "Rex is my son." Remus pulled the hood off of Rex's face. Rex's expression was blank, but his eyes were the strange thing. They weren't blue anymore...

They were Red, just like Remus's.

Remus placed his hands on Rex's shoulders, "So what do you say Ozma, may I see my boy?"

Glynda looked between Ozpin and Remus rapidly. Ozpin adjusted his glasses and walked to the door. Just before he exited the room he stopped, "I'll sign him up." With that, Ozpin left for his office.

Remus clapped his hands together, "Excellent." With that he disappeared. Rex collapsed as soon as Remus was gone. That just left Glynda, standing in the middle of the room, very confused.

"Son?"

-X-

**Oh yeah baby, we back! Did I die? Yes! Have I come back to write this? Exactly! Will I have a better schedule? I'm not going to jinx myself, so, we'll come back to that. Will I make an attempt? Yes! Schools out, and summer is in! And that means I have more to to write(Procrastinate). Hey! Who changed that! In all seriousness, I'm back with a fire under my ass. And I'm here to do nothing but write, and write good. As always have a good day! Don't die!!**


	8. Over

Ah, re-write hell, such a fun place. But it is in re-write hell that we discover our mistakes and failings. Hi, I'm comrade IS-2, and I wanna die. Let me tell you why. I fucked Ghost soldier up. The first mistake was the shitty name and description, the second was my lack of pre-planning, and the third was the rest of the story. And so, it is with a heavy heart that I must announce the end of this story and the beginning of the 4th iteration.

Now I hear you saying, "Hey you Yanderedev looking ass. What gives?" Well let me tell you how I've reached this point. You know Yossif and Luka? I made their characters with no idea what they looked like. No notes, no idea, just names. You know that whole other world thing? I didn't know what I was doing with that. You know how Rex met Ruby instead of Jaune at the beginning? I was gonna have a whole thing were Rex would treat her as a little sister. But that felt too forced. You know Imperator? I did him dirty. You know ruin, I just kinda said fuck it and threw her in. As well as old man.

That, and other story oriented stuff I felt was unnecessary, un-natural, or otherwise un-smart(I ran out of un's) has brought me to this decision. **BUT FRET NOT, **for I am not significantly changing the characters except for Rex. Why him? Because that other world stuff is getting gone. Maybe one day I'll make that into it's own story. Anyways, this "new" story is really just a reboot. And I'm gonna describe the shit out off it so I don't have to make another story I'll stop not even a tenth of the way through. And if I don't I'll eat a hat.

Since school starts on monday for me, I'll try to get the first chapter out next weekend as I'll have massive amounts of time to write while ignoring my online classes. What are the teachers gonna do? Give me detention? Anyway be on the lookout for it all...20 of you? Christ I don't even have 20 friends. Where'd all you beautiful bastards come from? Well whatever, I'll do right by you guys now. As always, have a good day!!

And don't die!!!!!!

_Now excuse me while I go buy a appetizing hat. _


End file.
